


The Firefly Lamp

by CrabbyMaiden



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aggressive fish screaming, Angst, Chronic Illness, Emotional Baggage, Eventual Romance, Eventual mystery, F/F, F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, How Do I Tag, Major Illness, Not the slowest burn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, The Great Papyrus, Undyne is Bestie, Weekly Updates, Writer Crab Hijinks, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-01-10 16:59:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12303540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrabbyMaiden/pseuds/CrabbyMaiden
Summary: Plagued by an unknown illness and an overbearing mother, Aurora Dunn decided that she simply needed a break from it all. When a trip to the local park leads her to discover a skeleton selling hot dogs and spouting off puns, she can't help but laugh: and immediately run away in embarrassment when he notices her. Yet, for some reason, she finds herself going back the next day, and the next, and the next...Hijinxs and shenanigans involving skeletons, small children and a screaming fish lady ensue. Can the rag-tag group of misfits draw Aurora out of her socially awkward shell? Will Sans ever pick up his sock?And what's up with the sudden investigation into her father's death?One can only hope to PERSEVERE in these tough times.[Updates every Sunday.] HIATUS





	1. Story START!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a beautiful spring day for Sans. Birds were singing. Flowers were blooming. On days like that... Uh..? Odd humans apparently liked to sit near his hot dog stand and laugh at wiener jokes?
> 
> Welp. There's a first time for everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! And welcome to my first story to be posted here! This little treat will be updated every Sunday morning at no set time, so keep a lookout for future chapters.
> 
> Enjoy~

_it's a beautiful day outside._

 

Sans' ever-present grin widened as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand, tilting his head upwards. He basked in the sunlight that streamed through the leaves above him and he propped his elbow against the edge of his hot dog stand. His eyes drooped into a half-lidded state while he watched an immaculate garden of flowers sway gently in the whispering breeze that carried the sounds of chirping birds and giggling children in The Park over to his humble stand. 

 

It was a relaxing day in the kinda-small city of New New Home - well. Nobody was surprised with the poor name when Asgore was put on the spot to name the capital city of monsters, and even less surprised when the park was literally named _The Park_. 

 

Nonetheless, Sans could see himself falling asleep halfway through his shift.

 

While monsters had been freed from the Underground and lived on the Surface for over a year, he found that he never got tired of "the simple things", such as the sun and he couldn't help but get an almost giddy feeling in his nonexistent stomach. _(heh_.) Sure, since monsters arrived top-side, humans had been worked up in a tizzy and relations between the two species had been wobbly at best, but with a stubbornly DETERMINED kid like Frisk spearheading the movement to bring peace and equality among humans and monsters, the skeleton had no doubts that it wouldn't be more than a few years before they had full rights in most countries. 

 

Though, he mused as his smile dropped a smidgen, just because laws were being created to protect monsters, that hardly stopped the outright hate and racism that often got thrown their way.

 

Shaking his head free from the worries that begun to flood his mind, Sans casually looked around the park he was stationed on the edge of, observing the humans and monsters that frolicked about in the grass. Then, he noted an odd human nearby, wearing a pale yellow hospital mask over their mouth-  _did it seriously have a mustache drawn on it_? 

 

They were seated at a picnic table, seemingly hunched over a book. Wisps of burnt sienna hair framed their face, and they were dressed in a baggy gray pullover hoodie and black leggings, clearly dressed for comfort over fashion. He could appreciate that: he himself wore his favored hoodie, shorts and slippers combo. From where he was, he couldn't gather much else in details as there was a backpack half hiding them from view, and the only other thing he could see that wasn't obstructed by the bag was a pair of slip on ballet flats.

 

Noting that they appeared rather unremarkable and unable to bring himself to care much as to what they were doing, his eyes moved along to continue looking around. He briefly amused himself with watching a small human wrestle happily with a large dog before a man approached him, gruffly asking for two hot dogs with sauerkraut and mustard while passing him the appropriate amount of money. The skeleton grinned, reaching into his stand to prepare the dogs and as he used tongs to drop clumps of sauerkraut on top, he glanced up at the man, his eyelights twinkling mischievously.

 

"i'll be _frank_ , i can't _mustard_  up the courage to try 'em with 'kraut." he commented as though he was speaking about the weather.

 

There was a small squeak of laughter followed by an immediate coughing fit that did not come from the man that was currently shooting him an exasperated look while Sans handed over the hot dogs. The guy immediately walked off, leaving Sans free to look around for whomever laughed. His eyes, once again, settled upon the human parked at the table cater-cornered from him. Unlike before, with what little he had seen, their face was a bright red as they coughed; a hand pressed against their chest while vigorously shaking something in the other. 

 

There was a trio of business women seated at the table next to them, casting worried and vaguely disgusted looks at the coughing human before they gathered up their lunches to move further away. His brows furrowed in confusion as the lone human uncapped whatever was in their hand and unhooked the mask from their ear just enough so that they could depress whatever it was, inhaling deeply before repeating the action once more.

 

The mask was returned to its proper position and the coughing fit began to subside, then they looked up. It allowed the human to realize that he had been watching and he could see their eyes grow wide when they caught him staring. They stared back at him as though frozen in place, and it wasn't until he grinned widely and winked that they flailed their hands in embarrassment in front of them. They quickly threw everything in their backpack, followed by bolting down the sidewalk, occasionally glancing over their shoulder at him. 

 

Clicking his teeth thoughtfully, he vaguely wondered if they were afraid of monsters, or just mortified that he had watched them go from laughing to a coughing fit in mere seconds. On top of that, he was quite curious about the mask, having never seen a human wear one like that before.

 

Deciding not to linger on it, Sans once again propped his head up on his hand and returned to basking in the sunlight.

 

It really _was_  a beautiful day outside.

* * *

 

The next day was hardly any different than the last: it was a sunny early-spring morning and Sans couldn't possibly ask for better weather as he wheeled his hot dog stand into place near the park's picnic tables. He gave a pleased hum as he proceeded to start up the propane to get the cooler and hot dogs started for business, as well as setting out the condiments and the display of drinks that he offered. It was only when he popped open the umbrella on the cart that he noticed that someone was already settled at the closest picnic table which just-so-happened to be the one cater-cornered to his preferred spot.

 

Pausing in what he was doing, he curiously examined the person only to find they wore a yellow hospital mask, though this one had a rainbow drawn on it with a puffy cloud on one side and a pot of gold on the other.

 

_huh. it's that same human from yesterday._

 

They were in the process of flipping open a black book, not seeming to notice the skeleton as he blatantly stared. Today, he could see that the book was full of blank pages and that a small bag of pens and pencils sat beside the backpack, so he gathered that they must have been some sort of artist drawing the local scenery. Confused as to what they could be drawing, since the scenic park was _behind them_ , he cast a glance over his shoulder to note the red brick apartment buildings. 

 

Maybe they liked drawing buildings or the cars that sometimes parked on the curb? When he turned to look at them again, the human looked up just in time to catch him looking and dull, hazel eyes brightened in a brief panic as they once again flailed their hands in a flurry of movements.

 

Chuckling at their antics, he nodded towards them. "good mornin'."

 

His words immediately made them halt, dropping one hand to their lap while the other waved at him shyly: their face bashfully looking anywhere _but_  him. They didn't speak, but their actions were friendly enough so he continued about his business and left them be to start scribbling in their notebook. The artist was almost immediately forgotten when he was swarmed by a group of park-goers and for the next several hours, he had a steady stream of monster and human customers that kept him busy. 

 

With a grin, he dished out hot dogs and puns to the denizens of New New Home and explorers of The Park, but it was when the small rush of customers began to ebb that he heard a squeaking laugh with each joke, and every other time, there would be a coughing fit to follow.

 

His eyes drifted over to the human, blinking in surprise when he saw most of the picnic tables full except for the one they were sitting at, and the tables directly next to them on either side. It was painfully obvious that the other humans were giving _this_  one a wide berth and he couldn't help but pity them briefly. He reached into his cooler to grab a bottle of water, noting that their latest bout of coughing had them doubled over in what appeared to be pain. 

 

As if sensing Sans' eyes, they quickly threw everything into the backpack and abruptly stood, coughing and speed walking away before he could offer them the water. He watched them turn sharply at the corner and gently returned the bottled water to its proper place, his usual smile turning downwards as he begun to frown.

 

_what the heck is_ their _problem?_

 

Grabbing a bottle of cleaner and a rag, he began to clean up the mess made during the rush and mulled over his thoughts about the _weird_  human. Sans, admittedly, still had trouble with differentiating between human genders unless they dressed the part in a very obvious manner. Therefore he had no idea if his guess was correct, but he _suspected_ that it was a girl, considering her small frame and squeaking laugh. 

 

It was doubtful that they could be racist, considering they came _back_  knowing that a monster would be there, and they had returned his greeting, albeit silently: they had even laughed all day at his jokes, so racism was out. Now, a healthy _fear_  was different, but again, he doubted that was the case. 

 

Maybe they were shy...?

 

_oh well._  He thought as he tucked the rag and cleaner away, washing his hands in the small sink on the corner of his cart. _no sense dwellin' on it._

 

Happy to get a short break, Sans rested his elbows on the cart and closed his eyes, but his mind wandered to the human again. The sounds of the sickly, wet coughs rang in his mind and he couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with them: Frisk sometimes got a cold or had issues with their allergies. Was that why they wore a mask? Were they having an issue with the pollen? A brief glance on his phone for the local pollen count told him that it was erring on the low side, so he crossed that off the theory list. 

 

Then again, there was also a chance that he was reading too hard into it and the human just choked on their spit while laughing every now and then, but it seemed unlikely to happen _that_  often-

 

"Look out!" He heard a kid holler, and he lifted his head just in time for a Frisbee to thump him right on the nasal bridge.

 

_well then._

 

* * *

 

On the third day, Sans didn't see the human until after the lunch rush had come and gone, looking up from his cleaning to find the human sliding into their usual spot. From where he stood, he could see that their face (or what little he could see of it) was a bit paler than it had been the day before, and their movements were lethargic in comparison to the animated gestures they had made the days before. Their hair was thrown into a loose braid that sat lopsided on their shoulder, and their usual pullover hoodie was swapped out for a thin, black zip-up jacket that was left undone and- _ah. boobs. definitely a girl then_ \- a purple tank top peeked out from underneath. A pair of gray sweatpants were rolled up to her mid-calves, revealing her legs to be just as pale as her face, and a simple pair of purple flip-flops hung off her toes. 

 

Today's mask had a pop-tart cat farting a rainbow. _what?_

 

As though moving through molasses, she reached into her backpack, pulling out the same black notebook and a pencil, opening it to an empty page. She sat there for several long moments; simply hovering the pencil over the paper as she slowly looked around as though she expected inspiration to run over and hit her in the face with a bat. After a minute or so of said thing not happening, she sighed, closing her eyes and dropping her forehead on top of the book.

 

"takin' the concept of facebook a bit literally, aren't you?"

 

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them and the human shot back up, her eyes wide as he shot her a strained grin. _nice goin', dingus._ Before he could say anything else, he saw the apples of her cheeks rise and a spark of mirth twinkle in her eyes as a raspy laugh escaped her. He noted that the mask puffed out slightly from the motion and vaguely wondered if she inhaled too hard, would the mask get sucked in her mouth? Did humans breathe that hard? 

 

Relaxing a bit, he continued on with his cleaning and she seemed to get a sudden spark of inspiration, attacking her notebook with enthusiastic scribbles.

 

About an hour had passed before he got his next customer: a little boy who had come to the park with his mother. He had run over to Sans' cart, eagerly handing him the money and asking for a 'dog with ketchup while his mother dug through her purse at a table a reasonable distance away. Sans easily handed him the frank and squirted ketchup on top of it with a wink.

 

"better go _ketch-up_  with your mom, kiddo."

 

The pun was lost on the boy as he said his thanks and ran off, but the skeleton grinned when a now familiar peal of laughter escaped the masked woman. Glancing over at her, he saw that she had a hand pressed to her chest, her head held up as her shoulders quivered with glee. Unfortunately, this lead to yet another fit of coughs that made her curl in on herself, covering her mouth with the crook of her elbow despite it being covered by a mask. This carried on far too long and the sound was horribly raspy: like a car sputtering to start.

 

Now frowning, Sans reached into his cart and grabbed a bottle of cold water, shuffling over to the woman as she pressed a small, red device to her lips, inhaling whatever medicine it puffed out, and he nudged her arm with it. She jumped, her coughs starting anew from being startled, earning a sheepish grin from him as he offered the drink to her; motioning for her to take it when she seemed to hesitate.

 

Slowly, she took the bottle, untwisting the cap with some effort and unhooking the mask completely from her face so she could take a drink. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Sans casually took in her features, noting how thin her wrist was, along with the rest of her body. It appeared as though she was just skin and bones, the dark bags beneath her eyes and the way her skin seemed stretched over her face, gave her a, _no pun intended_ , skeletal look.

 

It unsettled him more than he cared to admit, the thought of Frisk looking so thin and sickly making him feel queasy. Having lived Underground for so long, he had never seen something look so... Awful. Monsters weren't prone to getting sick due to being made up of magic, unless there was a rare occasion where a monster's soul was already weak and some form of stress made it worse. Other than that? This was his first time seeing a sick human up close and personal.

 

As if sensing his stare, she set the bottle down and returned the mask to her face, casting him a grateful look while pulling a wallet from her backpack. He blinked with she handed him a couple bills, and it took him an embarrassingly long moment to realize that she was trying to _pay_  him for the water, prompting him to shake his head and push it back towards her. 

 

He tried to not think about how easy it was to push her hand away while his non-stomach lurched at the action. He even had to fight the compulsion to suddenly treat her as though she was a glass object about to break. Instead, he just grinned in what he hoped was a friendly way and cast an inquiring glance to the seat next to her. Her eyes were squinted in confusion, but she nodded and pushed her backpack out of the way.

 

"so...  _water_  you doin' in this neck of the woods?" 

 

She immediately snickered, obviously taking care to not throw herself into another fit of coughs. "Just going with the _flow._ "

 

Sans could have sworn his soul fluttered: she thinks his jokes are funny and makes puns of her own? All thoughts of her being a possible racist went out the window and his hands twitched with the urge to text Toriel that he may have just found their third musketeer.

 

"to _beach_  their own."

 

Another snicker. "I _dolphinitely_  didn't expect you to have more than hot dog jokes."

 

"you _shoal'd_  have known better."

 

"Oh I _sea_  what you did there."

 

"was it a _shad_  too much?"

 

"It served its _porpoise_."

 

They both paused to laugh, though she had to take another sip of water to quell a fit of coughs, then he added. "heh. nice to find another pun connoisseur." Pulling his hand from his pocket, he offered it to her. "the name's sans. sans the skeleton."

 

She moved to grip his hand, but her brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Sans the skeleton- oh!" He quirked his brow and she turned bright red. "I-I thought you were saying you were w-without a skeleton- _ah sorry_! I-I'm-"

 

**_PFFFFFFfffffffttttttttttttt._ **

 

It was at that moment she had decided to grab his hand, compressing the small whoopee cushion nestled in the palm of his hand. She recoiled from the sudden sound, her eyes widening in surprise as Sans erupted into a spiel of near-hysterical laughter, clutching his ribs as he tossed his head back. When she realized what happen, her eyes narrowed in what he assumed was annoyance, but watching him laugh seemed to ease her tension a bit and slowly, she chuckled along with him, even going so far as to pat his back gently as he tried to catch his breath.

 

"s-sorry." he said, wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye. "the ol' whoopee cushion trick never fails."

 

Her brows were lifted, and he could almost imagine her thin lips to be twisted in wry amusement. "Apparently not. Though I can't say I'm used to being the _butt_  of jokes."

 

He cracked up in laughter again. "ahhh, you're alright, kid. what's your name?"

 

"O-oh. Um... Aurora. Aurora Dunn. Pleased to meet you, Sans the skeleton." She paused thoughtfully, not noticing the way his eyes lit up at her name. "O-or would it be "Sans who _is_  a skeleton"...?"

 

" _tibia_  honest, i think you're the first to catch that particular humdinger." He chuckled, peeling the whoopee cushion from his palm and grasping her hand to give her a proper (gentle) handshake.

 

Her eyes lit up. " _Oh_! I never would have though you'd find bone puns  _humerus_!" The way her cheeks lifted told him that she was grinning. "I bet you have a _skele-ton_  of them!" 

 

"oh that was a real _rib_  tickler."

 

Suddenly, her eyes turned shy and she looked away from him. "I'll have to admit defeat: that was all the bone puns I know." 

 

"hey, no _bones_  about it. i'll just have to _patella_ some more another time." She giggled and he shifted the topic from puns (for the moment). "so aurora, huh? like an aurora borealis?"

 

"O-oh, no. I _wish_. Unfortunately my mother named me after the Disney princess." 

 

"well that's a bummer. we'll pretend it's for space anyways." He winked and he could swear her eyes brightened. "so really, what brings you out here every day?"

 

Aurora immediately turned red, pointedly avoiding eye contact with him. "O-oh... I... Um... I come out here for... A break from home and... Inspiration...?"

 

She inched one hand towards her sketchbook as though she was trying to prevent him from noticing, but he caught the movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head to see what she was doing. Sans froze immediately, his smile wavering when he saw _his face_ in her sketchbook and she quickly took action, snapping it shut. It was stuffed in her bag while a stream of flustered apologies tumbled from her mouth at an impossible rate.

 

He shifted uncomfortably, casting her a wary glance as she gathered up the pencils scattered across the tabletop, her hands shaking so much that she could barely hold onto them. Unsure of how he felt about her drawing him, he was caught between feeling stalked and almost feeling  _bad_  for this obviously socially awkward human. She babbled on, telling him that she wouldn't bother him again and that she was _very_  sorry to make him uncomfortable; even going so far as to yank her money back out of her wallet and lay it on the table.

 

Before she could finish grabbing her stuff and running away, he quickly grabbed her wrist and cleared his throat. "well uh... _well_. guess... we could say somethin' really... _drew_  you here?" The joke fell short and she looked ready to yank away just so she could run off. "look, buddy, i don't mind that you uh... were being kinda creepy?" She flinched. "just uh... probably should ask someone if they're okay with... long term artist staring?"

 

She nodded meekly, but said nothing and he suddenly felt as though he kicked a puppy. Here they had been enjoying a good laugh and he just _knew_  that if Frisk or Papyrus caught wind of this, he would never hear the end of it. Papyrus' voice was practically already echoing in his head: _"OH BROTHER!! YOU ALMOST MADE A FRIEND? AND YOU SCARED THEM OFF BECAUSE THEY WERE FASCINATED BY DRAWING YOUR LIKENESS? TSK TSK. WELL I SUPPOSE WE CAN'T ALL BE GREAT AT FORMING FRIENDSHIP BONDS."_

 

"hey uh..." 

 

His whole body was screaming at him to abort: just grab stupid hot dog cart and _ABORT_!! At the same time... He _liked_  it when she had come to The Park and sat just within earshot to listen to his jokes and... Er... Draw him? He supposed he should be flattered with that, but it also made him want to become one with his hoodie. Judging from how uncomfortably embarrassed she looked from being discovered, she felt just as awkward as he did at the moment and-

 

"I-I'm sorry!" She managed to gasp out, and it was then that he could hear that her breathing had become a bit labored. "Y-you just... You have a really strong jaw... A-and... Well... I was drawing the a-apartments but you were t-there too so I... I-I'm s-sorry I didn't mean anything by it...!"

 

Sans blinked. _strong jaw?_

 

"what? my _jaw_?"

 

He had no idea humans could turn that shade of red. "I-I mean..." She shakily used her free hand to show him her own jaw. "Y-your's has a good shape...? It's v-very symmetrical too..."

 

Suddenly, he burst out laughing, making her jump, but he simply tugged her back into a sitting position. "you're one weird human, kid." Seemingly placated that he wasn't furious with her, he released her wrist and she pressed both hands against her chest as if it would help calm her. He held out his hand palm up and she blinked owlishly at him. "c'mon, i wanna see whatcha got, da vinci."

 

"O-oh!" Helplessly, Aurora looked from his hand to the sketchbook thrown haphazardly into her backpack. "I-I wouldn't say it's worth looking at..."

 

He curled his fingers in a "gimme" motion and she dejectedly pulled the book out and set it in his hand, her hands falling in her lap to fiddle with the zipper of her jacket. Carefully, he opened the sketchbook, the first page containing her personal information in case it was lost, so he politely skipped that one and let his eyes roam over a surprisingly detailed drawing of the city at night. He traced the tip of his finger over a building, the light touch turning it black from what he assumed was a charcoal medium and he wiped it off on his shorts.

 

 Flipping to the next page, the skeleton hummed thoughtfully when he saw it was a series of loose sketches depicting bodies in motion: labeled by the neat cursive at the top of the page. Another page flip and he was greeted by a window planter filled to the brim with... Buttercups? His thoughts fell to Toriel and the loss of her children, so he quickly flipped away from that page. Internally, he sighed in relief when the next picture was of a fur-less cat sitting in a window sill, followed by a wrinkly looking dog napping on a floor rug.

 

He continued looking through the sketchbook (which seemed to be only half full), occasionally looking up to check his cart until he finally came across the picture of _him_. Bracing himself for the wave of awkwardness sure to come, he studied the drawing, noting that he wasn't the only one in the picture: it had the mustached man from the other day! In it, Sans was handing him two hot dogs, his trademark grin and wink in play and behind him was the brick apartment building across from The Park. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw that she had even added the small dent that was on the front of his cart (earned when some kid tripped and bashed their head on it). 

 

Satisfied that she wasn't just stalking him, seeing as there were drawings of other people in it, he lightly closed the sketchbook and passed it back to her, though she couldn't seem to meet his eye.

 

"hey, sorry for getting weirded out. not everyday you learn somebody has been secretly drawing you." Sans winked and she blushed, but nodded mutely. "you're pretty talented."

 

"Th-thanks... I'll try to avoid creeping on you next time..." She shyly told him, holding the sketchbook in her lap.

 

The skeleton stood, noticing a couple men coming down the sidewalk and stretched, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "don't worry about it kid, i know you didn't mean any harm."

 

He stifled a yawn and shuffled back to his cart, casually tossing a greeting towards the men, not noticing them suddenly screech to a halt to stare at him. One of the men elbowed the other and they changed directions and making a beeline for the hot dog stand with a determined strut that had Aurora furrowing her brow. Sans, on the other hand, simply looked up and lifted his brows at them, ostensibly unperturbed by their approach. He lazily tapped a pair of tongs against the "sneeze guard" in a picture definition of "couldn't care less".

 

"heya, fellas. what can i get for you today?" He greeted just as he would anybody else.

 

"Yeah. Um. _You can get the hell out of our city_!"

 

Slowly, Aurora tucked the rest of her belongings into the backpack as one of the men began to yell at Sans, not taking her eyes away from the scene. Meanwhile, Sans simply clicked his teeth. "didn't know you owned the place, bud."

 

Behind the men, he saw Aurora get up as though she was leaving, shakily clutching the opened bottle of water in her hands. He lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave: poor woman was anxious enough. She probably wouldn't be able to handle the yelling about to come without it stressing her out, so he didn't blame her for wanting to get away from the sudden drama. Though... He couldn't help but feel... Miffed? They had been getting along so well too-

 

Wait. She was heading over to the stand?

 

" _Our_  tax dollars went into this place! It doesn't belong to monsters it belongs to huu-waaaAAH??" His rant was cut off abruptly when water suddenly splashed onto his back, both men whirling around to glare down at the woman that appeared to only be a fraction of their size.

 

She withered at their looks, managing to stammer out. "S-sorry... I t-tripped..."

 

The man that had begun to yell opened his mouth as though he was going to blow up at her, but Aurora begun coughing, the sickeningly wet sound causing them to reel away with sneers. Instead, the duo turned to leave, the larger of the two men ramming his shoulder against her with enough force that probably would have knocked _Undyne_  down, let alone a frail looking human like herself. 

 

She tumbled backwards, falling flat on her rear, though her backpack seemed to keep her from falling further back and cracking her head on the sidewalk. Startled by the turn of events, Sans quickly came around the cart and knelt next to her. He hovered his hands near her, but avoided helping her up just yet when he saw her chest rising and falling rapidly, unsure if his touch would be welcome.

 

"whoa. talk about rude. you okay kiddo?"

 

She nodded, her hand pulling the red, "L" shaped device from her pocket and she begun to shake it. After a moment, she unhooked her mask and he could see a thin sheet of sweat beginning to form along her forehead while she pressed the device to her mouth and inhaled whatever it was. Once she repeated the motion, she placed it back in her pocket and hooked the mask back in place. 

 

Her breathing slowly returned to normal and she looked at the now empty bottle, along with the splotches of water soaking into the sidewalk. It then dawned on him that she _didn't_  trip: she had _intentionally_  thrown the water on the man in an attempt to diffuse the situation before it begun.

 

Suddenly hit with a wave of gratefulness, he held out his hand. "thanks for that, kid. i really appreciate it."

 

Aurora flushed and looked away, the hand holding the bottle waving around a bit while the other lightly gripped his own. "I-it wasn't anything... Really... I just tripped..."

 

He shot her a knowing grin as he pulled her to her feet. "then i guess i should thank you for _falling for me_." Her flustered waving became more erratic, making him chuckle and continue. "say, you know what? there's someone i want you to meet. will you be here tomorrow?"

 

Pausing in her antics, she gave a slow nod. "Who...?"

 

Sans could feel his grin grow mischievously. "oh, just the coolest person you'll ever meet." 


	2. Enter: Papyrus!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself to encounter GREATNESS!! And not-so-subtle judgement. Medical jargon too. 
> 
> Lots of nonsense really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second and last post today before we enter the actual schedule.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Aurora was what you would call "a weirdo".

 

Having been ill with a myriad of health issues for approximately five years, she was well aware that it had taken a heavy toll on her appearance, and she couldn't help but frown at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth for the day. Standing at 5 foot and 4 ½  inches and weighing 112 pounds (while she used to weigh about 156 pounds), she was  _painfully_  aware that she looked like a twig. 

 

Her dark brown hair with a red undertone was now thin and brittle where it had once been thick and lush: her skin once a healthy pink, now a sickly almost-yellow with dark blotches plaguing her. She knew she looked terrible, and she found herself throwing out her cute, fashionable outfits for baggy sweats and hoodies that would hide her anorexic looking frame. 

 

Makeup thrown away in favor of those ugly, yellow, paper hospital masks (though at least she drew pictures on them in an attempt to cheer herself up). Flirty high heels tossed into the void known as The Closet and flip-flops (and occasionally slippers) adorned her feet.

 

Needless to say, she was a walking fashion disaster and it annoyed her, but she didn't have the energy for the "pretty stuff" anymore.

 

Huffing lightly to herself, Aurora shuffled out of the bathroom just in time to hear a voice call out. "Leaving! I'll see you around nine! Don't forget about your infusion!"

 

She pretended she didn't hear, instead, she pulled out a battered flip phone and set an alarm for 6 pm, then mechanically walked over to the bed where a small machine, tubing and a bag of fluids sat, waiting for her to hook it all together. So, without fully paying attention to what she was doing, she begun the tedious process of setting up the infusion pump, all while her mind began to wander to the past several days. Technically, she wasn't _supposed_  to be going outside, as her mother claimed that the pollutants outside would keep her bedridden for weeks, but she was pleasantly surprised when nothing of the sort happened. 

 

Fiddling with the IV valve in the crook of her left arm, she connected the tube, stringing it through the designated hole in the backpack and continued with her thoughts, grinning to herself when she thought of her new friend- well. She _hoped_  he was her friend. It had honestly been so long since she had human interaction with someone who wasn't her mother (who was a nurse that _insisted_  she take care of her "poor baby girl") that she had almost forgot how to talk to others.

 

Let alone a monster! It wasn't really the first time she had seen one since they had come to the Surface a year or so ago, as she did have a window that overlooked the communal garden and pool so she had seen a small variety of them. Though her encounters with Sans was her very first time seeing one up close and personal: and they _talked_! How exciting! 

 

She couldn't understand where her mother was coming from when she complained about the monsters she saw on a daily basis: Aurora thought they (er, by they she means "Sans") were very sweet! Would it be considered racism for disliking a monster because they were a monster? Or was that species-ism? Oh goodness... 

 

On a different note, the sickly woman was _mortified_  she had been caught in the act of sketching him. Talk about awkward: she thought he was going to melt from embarrassment on the spot.

 

Gently packing the infusion pump into an empty hydration backpack, - how lucky that they were _just right_ for her infusion equipment! - she pondered who she would be meeting today. Sans (the skeleton that is a skeleton) was quick to assure her that they were the greatest person he knew, and that they would just _love_  to meet her! Even though she barely knew Sans. In the back of her mind, a small, rational part of her brain screamed "Uh, hello? Meeting the friend of a stranger isn't exactly _smart_!" and she would have been inclined to agree with it... Had she not promised to be there around 10am. 

 

In the moment, it had sounded like a perfectly reasonable request, as they just got to know each other, but once she got home, she realized that today was her infusion day and she would have to drag out the portable infusion pump, set it up _and_  wouldn't be able to wear a hoodie, as it could possible put pressure on the IV tubing.

 

Oh, and there was the chance of them being serial killers. Whoops? Perhaps she was too trusting for her own good...

 

Making sure that the pump was still running, Aurora carefully placed the bag of fluids into the pack and zipped it up, checking the tubing for kinks before slinging the bag over her shoulders. Going into the bathroom again to glance herself over, she critically eyed the purple quarter sleeved shirt and light gray sweatpants, patting her pant pockets to feel for her inhaler, EpiPen, and wallet before nodding to herself: this was the best it was going to get. 

 

Heading to her dresser, she picked up her trusty black sketchbook, a pencil and eraser, stuffing the smaller items into her pocket while tucking the book under her arm and finally picked up her phone, adding it to the collection in her pockets. Satisfied that she was ready to face the outside world, she plucked a disposable mask from the box and used a marker to quickly scribble a simple smiling mouth with "rosy cheeks", slipping it on and looking over her room one more time.

 

It was a simple room, painted a pale yellow with cream colored accents, wrinkling her nose at the fact that there was more medical equipment than personal belongings in the room, aside from a TV and a laptop on her dresser. It made her shake her head and shut the bedroom door, heading for the front door and only stopping to snag a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a small sip as she stared at the planter full of buttercups sitting in the kitchen window: pretty, but the required care for them was obnoxious. 

 

She never touched them, but she saw how her mother _always_  insisted on wearing gloves to handle them: they apparently caused some pretty nasty rashes and it always made her leery of getting to close to the plants.

 

Forcing herself to drag her eyes away the mango yellow petals, she snatched the spare pair of house keys and went out the door to begin the three block trek to The Park.

* * *

 

Aurora really wasn't sure what she was expecting when she came around the corner and spotted Sans at his usual corner. Maybe one of the Jell-O looking monsters or that bipedal lion. One of the mini volcano looking ones perhaps. An eight foot tall skeleton that sure had a pair of (not?) lungs was the _last_  thing she was expecting, which was odd considering how Sans himself was a skeleton, albeit a short one whose head barely reached her chin. Of course, her new friend-maybe?-friend had a shit-eating grin when he saw her cautiously approaching as though she was ready to turn tail and run the opposite direction. 

 

That, in turn, caused the taller skeleton to swivel around, cutting off his rambunctious rant about puns to see _just_ what the smaller monster was smirking at and it was as though he(?) had won the lottery.

 

Nothing could have prepared her for what was about to happen.

 

"BROTHER! IS THAT THE HUMAN!?" She (very easily) heard him shout as he pointed right at her. 

 

"nah, bro. that's a flower bed."

 

"OH..." The tall skeleton seemed rather disappointed.

 

"hey, what's that in front of the flower bed?"

 

He squealed loudly, bringing his hands to his mouth in surprise and awe as his eyes seemed to sparkle in excitement. "IS _THAT_ THE HUMAN!?"

 

With the nonchalance of the cat that ate the canary, Sans' grin seemed to get even bigger as he gave a nod. "yep. that's her."

 

The next thing she knew, there was an abnormally large skeleton _charging right at her_ , kicking survival instincts into gear as she shrieked loudly, practically dropping like a sack of potatoes into the fetal position while covering her head with her sketchbook. " _Please don't kill me_!"

 

The footsteps skid to a stop right next to her and she could swear she heard Sans fall into a fit of roaring laughter while the same loud voice boomed above her. 

 

"SILLY HUMAN!! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD _NEVER_  HARM YOU!" And with that, two large hands firmly gripped her biceps and hefted her up off the ground, placing her on her feet only to gently pat her head. "THERE THERE! MY GREATNESS MUST HAVE BEEN TOO OVERWHELMING FOR YOU: FOR THAT, I APOLOGIZE! I WILL BE SURE TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR CLEAR INABILITY TO HANDLE MY "COOLNESS"."

 

"O-oh... Um... Thank you...?"

 

"YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, MASKED HUMAN! NOW ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF!" He took a step back from her and pressed a hand against his chest as he gave a dramatic pose. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!! MASTER CHEF AND POLICE OFFICER IN TRAINING: I ASSURE YOU THAT YOUR STREETS WILL BE SAFE WITH _ME_  ON THE JOB!"

 

Aurora blinked. Then blinked again, her eyes pointedly staring at his neon blue crop top that had "SKELE-BRO" embroidered across it, then at his neon purple bicycle shorts with yellow drawstrings. "U-um... Thanks? I'm Aurora... It's nice to meet... The Great Papyrus?"

 

"I'M SURE YOU'RE VERY HONORED!" Papyrus told her and went to say something else when a look of confusion crossed his face. He pointed at the tubing coming from her elbow and she braced herself for whatever he may say. "WHAT IS _THAT_?" Before she could say anything, he turned to Sans, who was still recovering from her shriek of fright. "SANS! YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE HUMAN BEING A..." A glance towards her and he cupped his hands around his mouth so that he could whisper. "A DRUG ADDICT."

 

"what?"

 

"W-what!? _No_! I'm not- I wouldn't- no!" 

 

The tall skeleton clicked his teeth at her in a very "understanding" way and he took her by the bicep and half dragged her over to where Sans was now shooting her a suspicious and confused glare. White hot embarrassment shot through her as she meekly tried to pull away, only managing to do so when Papyrus just let go of her and she clutched her sketchbook in both hands with a white-knuckled grip. 

 

She tried to think of the proper words to explain that _no_ , this wasn't drugs, it was a bag of fluids to help sustain her body because she struggled to do that on her own and she half wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole: this was beyond awkward. The look Sans was giving her was enough to make her want to turn and run home, poor lung function be damned.

 

"drugs, huh?" He dryly said, giving her a very not-so-amused stare.

 

"N-no! That's not- this isn't," She desperately motioned at the IV and backpack, then sighed, her shoulders slumping as though the weight of the world was suddenly dumped on her shoulders. "It's an IV... I have a bag of fluids and an infusion pump in my backpack if you want to see for yourself..."

 

"AN IV?" She may as well have said Christmas was coming early from the way he practically _vibrated_  with excitement. "OH SANS! I'VE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE HUMAN MEDICINE BOOKS! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN ONE!" Again, her arm was grabbed and she was dragged to the nearest picnic table. "OH HUMAN, YOU _MUST_  TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!"

 

At his insistence, she cautiously sat down, warily placing her sketchbook on the table while he towered over her, wringing his hands as though it would help contain himself. A moment later, Sans was shuffling over, his expression less hostile but clearly guarded as he slid into the spot across from her. Realizing that this was where she was supposed to show them that she _wasn't_  a drug addict, she anxiously slid her arms out of her backpack, and carefully emptied the contents: watchful to avoid pressing buttons on her infusion pump. 

 

With each item pulled from the bag, Papyrus' eyes grew wider and wider until she was half afraid that they would pop out of his skull and it completely baffled her _how_  that was even possible. She forced herself to ignore it and dug her inhaler and EpiPen from her pockets, adding them to the pile on the table.

 

Then she begun the process of explaining what each item does: the bag of fluids provided necessary nutrients that she struggled to intake and antibiotics to help her immune system, and the pump controlled how much went into her system over a set period of time. She softly told them that if the fluids went into her system too fast, it could cause a fluid overload, which would result in high blood pressure, spikes in anxiety and troubles breathing. 

 

On the other hand, if it was set at too low of a flow, her body simply wouldn't respond to the treatment. Once done explaining the purpose of her IV and infusion pump, she packed the fluids and pump back inside the backpack, slipping it back on over her shoulders and checking the tubing for kinks.

 

"WOWIE! HUMANS ARE SO STRANGE!" Papyrus exclaimed, then pointed at the inhaler and EpiPen. "AND WHAT ARE THESE?"

 

Aurora picked up the inhaler first and Sans seemed to focus in on it. "This is what we call a rescue inhaler: basically it's used to help open up the lungs when you start wheezing, coughing or generally can't breathe too well. I have weak lungs, so this helps me a lot when I'm really struggling." Setting it aside, she picked up the EpiPen. "And this I don't necessarily _need_ , but I prefer to keep on hand in case I have a sudden allergic reaction. In a nut shell, this will give you a dose of epinephrine that will help counteract the reaction and hopefully help prevent anaphylaxis shock so you can get to a hospital."

 

"AND WHAT ABOUT THAT?" He asked, pointing at her mask.

 

"This filters the air of allergens and germs for me, and at the same time preventing my germs from spreading around."

 

This time it was Sans that spoke up, shifting in place with a thoughtful expression. "so... you're pretty sick, huh?" She nodded mutely. "that... blows?"

 

Not one to care for the pity people often gave her, she grew a ornery twinkle in her eye and she tapped her nails on the sketchbook. "Say, did you hear about the painter that was hospitalized?"

 

"OH NO! IS HE OKAY?"

 

"Well he had too many _strokes_." She quipped.

 

Sans immediately broke into snickers while Papyrus, much to her surprise, lifted his head to the sky and unleashed an unholy scream. "PUNS!? NOW I SEE WHY YOU LIKE THIS HUMAN!"

 

"bro, i guess you don't get the _point_  of acu- _pun-_ cture."

 

Aurora was barely able to hold back the coughs threatening to emerge when she laughed. "Oh-oh! Why was the broom having a bad day?"

 

"NO!"

 

"why's that?" The smaller skeleton humored her, grinning widely as he leaned forward.

 

"He didn't get enough _sweep_!"

 

He chortled while his brother screeched as though he was in agony. "is it true that cpr is a near- _breath_ experience?"

 

Her giggles were cut short by a fit of coughs, and she pressed her hand against her chest as though it would help keep her lungs in her chest. Fortunately, Sans decided to cut her a break, though she didn't much care for the worried looks the brothers exchanged with one another before Papyrus was suddenly jogging to the nearly-forgotten hot dog stand, pulling a bottle of water from the cooler. It took a few moments for her to settle down, and she attempted to deny the water but he wouldn't hear nothing of it, going so far as to uncap it and tugging her mask down to her chin, pressing the bottle to her lips. 

 

Caving to his pressuring, she took the bottle from his hands, half afraid he would choke or drown her and took a tiny sip to soothe her throat. At the same time, she pulled her wallet out of her pocket and proceeded to attempt to pay for the drink, but was again, denied with a shake of head.

 

"kid, i can't take your money if i'm givin' it to ya."

 

She shot him a sour look. "It must be hard to make a profit if you give away stuff."

 

He just grinned. "some things are more important than money."

 

That gave her pause, but before she could ponder on it, Papyrus pointed at her sketchbook. "IS THAT YOUR MANUAL?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"YOUR MANUAL! FOR YOUR MEDICAL CONDITIONS!"

 

"O-oh, no. That's just a sketchbook."

 

"OOOH!" A pause as he stared at her as though waiting. When nothing happened, he cleared his throat (how did that work?). "MAY I SEE?"

 

"Oh! Y-yes, but don't be too disappointed."

 

He swooped in and snatched it up eagerly. "WORRY NOT, MASKED HUMAN! I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MAY NOT BE AS GREAT AS ME!" Just as he was opening the book, the watch on his wrist suddenly began to beep, drawing a groan from him. "DRAT! I HAVE TO RETURN TO THE ACADEMY. ALAS: I MUST WAIT TO SEE YOUR BOOK OF SKETCHES. BUT! CONSIDER THIS A BOON OF GOOD FORTUNE FOR YOU: NOW YOU HAVE AN EXCUSE TO SEE THE GREAT PAPYRUS AGAIN! NYEH HEH HEH~!"

 

"Y-yes, I would be v-very honored to see you again, if you have time." She said quietly, making sure her smile could be seen through her eyes.

 

"OF COURSE! WE SHALL MEET AGAIN!"

 

And with a "nyeh!", he returned her sketchbook and took off running down the sidewalk.

 

Sans turned to look at her, his grin lazy and eyes full of fondness. "isn't he so cool?"

 

"H-he's very... Exuberant." She said, unable to think of another word for the lively skeleton. "Quite charismatic as well."

 

He nodded, resting his head in the palm of his hand. "he's the best. trainin' to be a police officer 'cause he wants to help anyone and everyone."

 

She hummed her agreement. "The world needs more people like him. A little kindness goes a long way."

 

"he sure seemed to like you, so don't be surprised if you see more of him around." He spoke this as though it was a warning, but from the way he watched her as though to gauge her reaction, she could gather he's waiting for her to say _one_  negative thing about his presumably younger brother.

 

The sickly woman wanted to shrink under his gaze, knowing full well that her illness often kept her from being able to spend time with others. Before she had fallen ill, she had a close-knit group of friends, but after moving from town a couple times and declining to go out for social gatherings, she had begun to lose touch with them one by one before she found herself alone. 

 

Not that she could blame them: she had no doubt that it was hard for them to watch her begin to waste away, and when she _would_ go out with them, they constantly asked if she was alright, if she needed to sit down, if she could handle it... It was tiring for everybody. On top of that, her in-home isolation prevented her from going out and meeting new people in new cities, so it wasn't as though she really had the chance to make friends. 

 

"Hopefully... He won't mind. It's been a long time since I've spent time with others." Realizing she said that out loud, she coughed awkwardly. "U-um, that is to say... I'm l-looking forward to it!"

 

Sans beamed. "great. paps'll be stoked to have another human as a friend."

 

"I-is that so? Well... I must warn you... My... Condition doesn't allow me to leave home often, and sometimes, I have to go through extra hoops to do so." She motioned to the backpack. "And there's a lot of things I just _can't_ do."

 

He stood up, patting her bicep as he passed to return to his cart. "as long as you like spaghetti, he won't notice a fault."

 

"Er... That's one of the things I can't do."

 

She saw him freeze mid-step, his shoulders tensing up beneath his oversized, blue hoodie. "say again?"

 

"I... Um... Can't have s-spaghetti... R-red sauces make me sick." The look he was giving her was akin to what one might have if someone had admitted to kicking small children. "I-I mean... I love the _taste_  b-but my b-body just... Rejects... It...?"

 

Composing himself, the hot dog vendor drew his hand down his face and gave a half-hearted chuckle. "i'll let you have fun explaining that to him. hoo boy, didn't see that coming."

 

Aurora gave an indignant snort. "It's not like I'm committing sacrilege."

 

"buddy, to paps, that's the ultimate form of sacrilege." He placed a hand over his heart and shook his head in mock sorrow. "may the stars have mercy on your soul."

 

 She suddenly felt _very_  nervous about her next encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it was enjoyable! Just a reminder: I will post every Sunday morning, so there is an update schedule. If for some reason, I don't, then I will make an announcement on my Twitter that I basically set up just for that reason. Feel free to ask me questions over there as well.
> 
> [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden  
> I occasionally post doodles on Instagram too: @CrabbyMaiden  
> Special thanks to my editor and bud Misty on Twitter: @IceReptilian


	3. Enter: Lacy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Lacy Dunn: overbearing mother of the year.  
> Also: vomit! Phone calls! Texting! Oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy your weekly update~
> 
> .:EDIT:.  
> Fixed some formatting issues.

 

Aurora only stayed at The Park for another hour or so, feeling her energy drop significantly from the excitement with Papyrus earlier. So she had gathered her belongings, cheerfully waved goodbye to Sans to hide her exhaustion from him and wandered down the sidewalk towards her home. While she walked along, she felt a tightness in her chest and a burning in her lugs, so she briefly paused to use her inhaler, continuing her walk moments later.

 

 After what felt like an hour to her aching body and slowly pounding headache, she took the elevator up to the sixth floor of her building, unable to take the stairs as she begun to feel light headed. Luckily, she was the sixth apartment on that floor, that had made for a short walk to unlock her door and all but fall inside, locking it behind her again.

 

She immediately pulled off her mask, taking deep breathes as she walked over to a small machine pushed up against the wall and flipped the switch on the side that started it up with a low hum. Taking the hose off the side of the oxygen concentrator, she unraveled it and placed the nose piece of the hose in its proper spot, hooking the rest over her ears to hold it in place. 

 

Inhaling, she felt the pressure lighten in her lungs, but her queasy sense of being lightheaded persisted, so she sat down in the nearby couch and held her head between her knees in an attempt to alleviate it. For several minutes, she remained in that position as she brought her breathing back to normal, and gradually, the headache and spinning sensation left her and she finally sighed in relief.

 

"I really pushed my luck today..." She murmured, slowly sitting up to look around the apartment. It was fairly sparse, with only a few mismatched pieces of furniture to decorate it due to a shortage in funds and their semi-frequent moving.

 

Her tired hazel eyes studied the scuffed coffee table, trailing towards the trio of bookshelves lining the wall and she forced herself up onto her unsteady feet, heading to the bookshelves. Lifting a hand, she traced her fingers over the spines before pausing on a group of books that were exactly alike, her smile, though worn out, was fond with nostalgia. She pulled one from the shelf, flipping it over so that she could look at the back. 

 

The grinning, black and white facade of a woman stared back at her, her cheeks full and eyes bright while her hands were clasped just beneath her chin, appearing very much healthy and vibrant. Above the photo was the story's summary, depicting a tale of adventure, heartache and friendship as the heroine moved to a quiet city in perpetual night.

 

Smiling, she traced a finger over the author's scrawling cursive.

 

**_Click._ **

 

The sound of the door being unlocked caused her to jump, dropping the book as she whipped around just in time to see her mother open the door.

 

Lacy Dunn was a woman in her 40's, but one would hardly notice just by looking at her: she was a woman that prided herself on her beauty regiment. Her sun-kissed blond hair was kept in a neatly folded bun at the nape of her neck, though a few strands of strategically placed bangs gave it a slightly more casual appearance. 

 

She was built slim and tall, standing at 5 foot 8 inches (though now that she encountered Papyrus, that height seemed far less daunting), but kept her body lean with consistent exercise and her duties as a nurse. Not to mention she was _insistent_  on never touching junk food: in fact, much to Aurora's lament, junk food was never in their home. 

 

Stern blue eyes zeroed in on Aurora, narrowing when they spotted her and the evenly tanned skin on the woman's forehead wrinkled in disapproval. The door was shut with the snap of a wrist and her keys were tucked into the front pocket of her powder blue scrubs.

 

Her mother shook her head. "I'm glad I came home for lunch. What do you think you're doing out of bed?"

 

Aurora's throat tightened as she struggled to keep from blurting that she had actually left the house and stooped over to pick the book up to hide her face that would be a dead give away to the coming lie. "I-I wanted to go sit on the balcony a-and read... It looked nice out today."

 

"Oh sweetie..." Lacy came closer as she stood up straight, clutching the book tightly in her hands. "You know you shouldn't go outside yet. You're too sick: the pollen count alone could make you regress."

 

A hand was pressed against her shoulder and the book taken from her grasp, though she missed the look of disdain that was sent toward it as it was returned to the shelf. Silently, she allowed herself to be guided to her bedroom while her mother fussed over the oxygen hose and infusion pump, shutting it off. Taking everything apart with practiced ease, she urged her daughter to take off her shoes and get in bed. 

 

In no time, Aurora found herself hooked into the larger, more stationary pump connected to an IV pole. This would keep her confined to her bedroom for the next twelve hours at _least_  and it took everything she had to restrain a heavy sigh. 

 

Once satisfied that everything was in place, her mother disappeared from the room for several minutes as she prepared her a light lunch and her daily medication. She returned with a tray holding Jell-O, crackers, a cup of chicken broth and two small cups: one with pills, the other with about half a tablespoon of an amber liquid.

 

"Here you are, precious." The nurse chirped, setting the tray on the bed. "Try to eat up! I've got to head back to work now, so actually _try_  to stay in bed, okay?" A nod was her answer and she smiled, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "Love you, sweetie. I'll be home soon!"

 

With that, Aurora was left alone in a deafeningly quiet room, staring at a plate of green Jell-O that looked too much like those wiggling monsters she had seen wandering the complex. Unable to bring herself to eat something that looked and _jiggled_  like them, she picked up a cracker and nibbled on it. Despite her lack of appetite, she managed to force herself to eat a couple, followed by a small sip of iced water. Once she had eaten the small pile crackers, she picked up the small container of pills, tipping the contents into mouth and quickly pouring water in to help them go down smoothly, but she coughed anyways. 

 

Taking steadying breaths through her nose, the purified oxygen almost providing a burning sensation, she picked up the cup of amber fluid and swallowed it. It had a bitter taste that made her cough more as it went down, prompting her to eat another cracker to help rid her mouth of the taste.

 

Once she finished with the crackers, she set the tray on her bedside table, scooting off her bed to stretch as far as the IV pole would allow without moving it so that could bring her laptop over to the bed. She barely managed to open it before a burning feeling akin to a thousand red hot needles began to form in her throat, forcing a series of violent coughs out of her throat. The feeling surged down into her stomach and she doubled over, hands pressing against her gut as if she could halt the pain. 

 

The raw sensation paired with bile building in the back of her throat made her lurch forward, hauling the IV pole forward as she hurriedly dragged it along the carpeted floor towards the bathroom. 

 

When the wheels hit the tiled floor, it moved along far more smoothly, allowing her to reach the toilet just in time to vomit up her stomach content, the action only irritating her burning innards more. At the same time, her fingertips began burning and immediately, her mind thought of an allergic reaction. She fumbled for the EpiPen that was, luckily, still in her pocket from her excursion outdoors.

 

Yanking it out of her pocket, she took it out of its case and held in one hand, popping off the blue cap and carefully yanked her sweatpants down. She pressed the orange tip against her outer thigh and pressed it firmly into her skin, flinching when the needle pierced through her flesh. Holding it there for several seconds, she slowly pulled it away and reached up to drop it in the sink for now. 

 

Curling in on herself, she vomited again, though her hand massaged the injection site as her leg began to quiver slightly: a side effect of the epinephrine that she was familiar with. She wondered what could have triggered the reaction, her only guess being that it was just a delayed reaction from being outside, but if that was the case, then it was hard telling _what_  exactly caused it. The air can carry a variety of allergens that could easily get past her thin paper masks, so it was unlikely she would know the exact cause.

 

Resigning herself to her stay in the bathroom, Aurora set a thirty minute timer to call her mom if she didn't improve.

* * *

 

 

The sound of Aurora's cell phone blaring a series of chimes roused her awake, alerting her to the fact that she had fallen asleep with her cheek pressed against the bathtub. She sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes in an attempt to clear the fog from her mind while she tried to figure out why it was dark in the bathroom. Wasn't it barely noon when she started throwing up? 

 

Her phone let loose another chime, urging her to pick it up and flip it open, thinking it was her alarm, but she blanched when she saw that it was actually a phone call. This brought her to panic even more when she realized it was from an unknown number that she had just accidentally answered. Her stomach churned nervously, not quite hurting as it did earlier, but still roiling in discomfort.

 

She lifted the device to her ear, half expecting to hear an automated message, but when no such thing spoke up, she licked her lips.

 

"Hello...?"

 

The suddenly loud voice on the other end prompted her to yank the phone away from her ear to prevent her headache from worsening. " _GREETINGS! IS THIS THE MASKED HUMAN'S NUMBER?_ " 

 

If she had been drinking, she would have done a spit-take. " _Papyrus!?_ "

 

" _OH! IT_ IS  _YOUR NUMBER!_ " He cheered, not quite catching her confused sputters. 

 

She squeaked in horror, having no recollection of giving him her number. "How did you get my number!?"

 

" _EASY: I SIMPLY CALLED EVERY NUMBER UNTIL I HAPPENED ACROSS YOURS!_ " She couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around that surely-impossible feat. " _I WAS CALLING TO ASK IF YOU WOULD PERHAPS LIKE TO JOIN MY BROTHER AND I ON A PICNIC TOMORROW! WE WILL BE HAVING SPAGHETTI: THERE IS NO BETTER DISH TO BOND OVER THAN A PERFECTLY COOKED PLATE OF MY PASTA._ "

 

Achingly, she maneuvered herself onto her knees, her throat feeling as though she had swallowed a whole pack of cotton balls. "I-I... Um..." She started coughing, the dryness of her throat proving too much to allow her to speak properly for long. "O-one second..."

 

Managing to stand with the help of the IV pole, she flipped on the light and grabbed a cup she normally kept on hand in the medicine cabinet, filling it with water from the sink. " _HUMAN, YOU SOUND DREADFUL! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?_ "

 

She help the phone away from her head so he couldn't hear her gulp down the liquid, then brought it back so she could answer. "I-I'm sorry, I'm alright, but thank you for asking." Setting the glass down, she worded her next line carefully, Sans' words lingering in her head. "As for your previous question... E-er... Does your spaghetti have tomatoes in it, by any chance..?"

 

" _OF COURSE! ONLY THE FINEST, MOST RIPE OF TOMATOES GOES INTO MY SAUCE!_ "

 

"I-I'm sorry... I can't have red sauce... The tomatoes in it... Well... I-it makes me very sick if I try to eat it..."

 

She heard a scandalized gasp and the sound of the phone being dropped before the line went dead. 

 

Surprised, she continued holding the phone to her ear. "Papyrus?"

 

Realizing that she wouldn't get an answer, she flipped the device shut and tucked it in her pocket, admitting that yes, she did indeed commit sacrilege in Papyrus' eyes. Aurora would probably never hear from him again if Sans' was being serious with her earlier. The thought made her stomach flip anxiously in a way that was unrelated to her illness and she set about cleaning up the mess from the incident earlier to distract herself from the suddenly nerve wracking silence. 

 

Carefully, she picked up the used EpiPen, opening the small biohazard bin attached to the wall and dropped it inside while being mindful of the needle. Then grabbed the cleaning cloth from underneath the sink and the all-natural cleaning solution: regular chemical based products were much too strong for her to be able to safely use. She sprayed down the toilet and the floor around it, swiping away any stray flecks of vomit before putting the supplies away.

 

She had washed her hands twice, drying them on a small hand towel when her phone began to ring again. 

 

She barely hesitated in answering. "Papyrus?"

 

There was an awkward pause followed by the clearing of a throat. " _YES. I MUST APOLOGIZE FOR THROWING MY PHONE DOWN IN SURPRISE. I JUST..._ YOU CAN'T HAVE SPAGHETTI! _MY PLANS HAVE BEEN FOILED! NYO-HO-HO-HOOOO!_ "

 

In the background, she heard an equally loud, yet exceedingly more feminine: " _WHAT!?_ "

 

"I-I... What?" Perplexed by his near hysterical state at her inability to eat tomato sauce and the sudden additional voice cursing rather loudly in the background, she attempted to soothe him anyways. "I-I'm sorry, Papyrus... I do _like_  spaghetti but I just can't stomach it... If I could eat it I would have loved to try your spaghetti..."

 

" _B-BUT... IT WAS GOING TO BE_ FRIENDSHIP  _SPAGHETTI TO COMMEMORATE OUR MEETING!_ "

 

"I-I... If you want... I can tell you some alternatives to tomato sauce...? I k-know a fairly simple alfredo sauce...  O-or maybe I should make it myself and b-bring it to you... I-I'm terribly sorry for the trouble..."

 

" _OH HUMAN! I_ INSIST  _UPON MAKING IT FOR YOU! AFTER ALL, ANY DISH PREPARED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS GUARANTEED TO BE MOST EXCELLENT! AND- AH, ONE MOMENT._ " She heard rustling as he covered the speaker of the phone. " _UNDYNE! DO YOU KNOW A RECIPE FOR ALFREDO SAUCE? THE HUMAN SAYS IT IS AN ALTERNATIVE THAT IS APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR CONDITION!_ "

 

" _What the hell is alfredo!?_ " The other voice barked back.

 

Aurora winced at that, but made herself focus on dragging the IV pole back into her bedroom, listening to the muffled squabble between him and whomever Undyne was as she worked her way across the carpet.

 

" _AHEM. I AM SORRY FOR THAT. I TRUST WE WILL BE SEEING YOU AROUND NOON TOMORROW?_ "

 

"I-I s-suppose so, if you want me to come... Are you s-sure you don't want me to make the sauce?" She used her hip to force the pole back into its place at her bedside and sat on the edge of a bed with a silent sigh.

 

" _DON'T BE SILLY! WE SHALL MAKE YOU A CULINARY MASTERPIECE THAT WILL PUT ALL OTHER DISHES TO SHAME! NYEH~!_ " 

 

There was a cacophony of clattering pots and pans, followed by stomping and an enraged " _NNNGAAAAHHHH!!_ " 

 

_"THAT IS MY CUE! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AT ANY TIME! IT ISN'T EVERY DAY THAT YOU GAIN THE NUMBER OF SOMEONE AS NOTORIOUSLY GREAT AS I, AFTER ALL!_ "

 

"O-oh, thanks? See you tomorrow then?"

 

" _YES! TOODLE-LOO!_ "

 

Utterly baffled by the turn of events, Aurora stared at her phone in a mystified wonder, nearly jumping out of her skin when she got a notification for a text.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR PICNIC TOMORROW!**

**PLEASE REMEMBER TO DRESS WARMLY!**

**THEY SAY IT MAY BE CHILI, THOUGH I'M NOT**

**SURE WHAT BEANS HAVE TO DO WITH THE WEATHER.**

 

 

"Aw." She grinned at his thoughtfulness, firing a "thanks" at him and entered his contact information under "Master Chef".

 

A moment later, she received a few more texts.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**hey**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**paps gave me ur #**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**i hear u gave him an impasta sauce**

 

Bursting into giggles, she entered Sans' contact information under "Comic Sans" and sent him a pun of her own.

 

**From: Aurora Dunn.**

**It took a moment orzo but I think he understands my risoni-ng now**

 

 

Pleased with herself, she noted that it was fairly late in the evening, so she set about preparing herself for bed; fully intending on going to sleep early so that she would have more than enough energy for the picnic the next day. Though, there was a nagging worry about her vomiting earlier, but she decided that she would take extra measures by doubling up on her masks. Perhaps she would also dig her portable oxygen concentrator out of her closet and take it with her on top of fishing out a fresh EpiPen. 

 

Just in case she forgot, she grabbed a pad of paper and jotted down the things she needed to take, wishing that she at least had the supplies enough time to make a treat of some sort for the too-kind skeleton... That originally thought she was a drug addict. In hind sight, it was hilarious, but in the moment, she couldn't recall ever feeling so embarrassed. 

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**he's a weird noodle but he's pastably the biggest softie u'll meet**

 

 

**From: Aurora Dunn.**

**He's a breath of fresca air for sure.**

 

Grinning from ear to ear, she noticed how much happier her reflection seemed as she brushed her teeth and she actually begun to get _excited_  for the next day. It had been so long since she had spoken to someone aside from her mother that she had forgotten how therapeutic it could be. She certainly had been enjoying her brief encounters with Sans, and Papyrus - after she had gotten over the initial scare - was an absolute sweetheart that was simply curious over something he hadn't seen before. 

 

She was even set to have "friendship spaghetti" with him tomorrow. Though that wouldn't quite be what she would have selected for a picnic food, the gesture itself was very touching, but she worried that she wouldn't be able to eat much. Personally, she would be impressed if she managed a couple bites, yet she stressed it might offend him that she wouldn't be able to clear an entire plate without her stomach rejecting it. 

 

Maybe she could offer to bring it home as leftovers...?

 

Stifling a yawn, the young woman returned to her bed, checking over the infusion pump to make sure everything was alright before she crawled under the covers. She blindly felt for her phone's charger, plugging it in and setting the alarm to give her plenty of time to get ready in the morning. Laying it aside, Aurora burrowed beneath her blankets, minding the IV in her elbow and closed her eyes, surprised by how tired she felt despite having fallen asleep in the bathroom earlier.

 

She was nearly asleep when her phone chimed one more time.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**[Image.]**

 

 

Aurora squinted at the small screen of her phone, furrowing her brow when she finally made out that it was a stove top covered in a white sauce, scorch marks and last of all, stuck in the wall above it was a blue... Spear?

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Be ready to have the best picnic EVER, punk!**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd that's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Like what I do~? [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Got a question? Holla at my Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden
> 
> Until next Sunday, dearies~! Ta~


	4. The Picnic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fish is a bad idea.

The scratchy feeling in Aurora's throat accompanied by an unpleasant, full bodied ache is what pulled her from her dreamless sleep. She rolled over, her oddly dry eyes cracking open so that she could squint at the clock sitting on her bedside table, noting that she woke just a few minutes before her alarm. Thankfully, she hadn't been so sick that she slept through the day and missed the picnic.

 

Absently, she felt the crook of her left elbow, finding that the IV port had been removed and replaced with a bandage, alerting to her that her mother had come in during the night and removed it. She had also taken the food tray with her as well: leaving behind a glass of water in its place. The back of her hand lifted, attempting to rub her eyes awake and she cringed at the itchy feeling of her dried out eyelids rubbing against them.

 

She sat up in hopes of remedying it all while feeling as though a truck had thoroughly run her over, backed up and repeated to do so three more times.

 

After taking a large gulp of water, she shuffled across the room and headed straight for the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, pulling a bottle of eye drops and pain killers from it. With a practiced ease, she tilted her head back and administered the drops, sighing with relief as it rehydrated them. This gave her the chance to properly rub them to help her wake up and she popped a pill into her mouth before starting a shower. 

 

It was then that she remembered why she was getting up, and it was as though someone dumped a bag of caterpillars into her stomach: the worming sensation of nervousness and excitement almost making her queasy. She really couldn't suppress the feeling, as it had simply been _too long_  since someone actually wanted to spend time with a dreary person like her: and he was a monster! Something she was finally getting to experience first hand, having only read about them and watched from afar. 

 

Though she knew that if her mother found out, it would procure a sneer of disdain followed by warnings that "they're _disgusting_  and _dangerous_ ".

 

Honestly speaking, Aurora had yet to see anything that would warrant such a reaction. Maybe if there had been articles, blogs or news reports on monsters causing trouble or legitimate health problems, she would be able to see where she was coming from but... Nothing of the sort ever popped up. Yes, there were Anti-Monster blogs, but even they had a hard time actually pinning anything _negative_  to the newly-anointed Surface dwellers and the sheer amount of positive reactions towards them pushed a majority of the hate behind the scenes.

 

Why, she had read some article about a monster opening a school that would accommodate both humans and monsters, even hearing that it was praised for how well it was educating the children. Heck, Papyrus was pursuing a career as a police officer to keep the streets safe! How could anybody hate _that_? 

 

Finishing with her shower and toweling off, she brushed her teeth and set off to get dressed for the day, gathering up a pair of black yoga pants and a bright blue tank top. Recalling Papyrus' warning that it would be on the colder side, she fished out a purple zip up hoodie and added it to the outfit. Once she was dressed and her hair wrangled into a loose braid, she dug into her closest, pulling out the miniature version of the oxygen concentrator that sat in her living room and plugged it in to charge as she continued about her morning. 

 

She left her bedroom, canting her head to listen for sounds of Lacy, but when she was greet by silence and a note on the kitchen counter, she exhaled in relief. The note said she had a double shift at the hospital and that she wouldn't be able to come home. Glancing it over, she blandly noted that it emphasized the times she should take her medication and that there was Jell-O in the fridge.

 

 She barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes: she had been taking her medication for around five years, so she knew the times she should be taking the pills by heart. The way her mother babied her was insulting and stifling, but she grit her teeth and bared it, knowing that she was just _worried_  about her.

 

The pills were swallowed with a sip of water, and Aurora passive aggressively pulled the gelatinous food from the fridge, proceeding to dump it all down the garbage disposal.

 

She felt guilty almost immediately as she remembered they looked like the wiggly monsters. "Um... Sorry?"

 

Pausing with an afterthought, she backpedaled to the fridge and placed a couple waters in the side compartments of her bag, making sure they wouldn't slide out before moving along. She took out a small packet of oyster crackers, nibbling on them to help keep her medication down and she wandered back to her room, noticing that her clock read 10:21 a.m. Removing her phone from the night stand, she opened it to find several text messages awaiting her attention.

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**I HOPE YOU ARE HUNGRY!1!**

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!**

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**I AM ALSO BRINGING A FRIEND!**

**I HOPE YOU DO NOT MIND!**

**SHE IS VERY COOL!!**

 

Quickly, she told him that she didn't mind at all and that she was looking forward to the picnic, then proceeding to open the next message.

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**hey, i rly 'preciate u doin this**

**havn't seen paps this hyper in 4evr**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**hope ur not allergic 2 fish**

 

His statement made her wonder what the heck Papyrus made that contained fish, but found that his concerne wasn't entirely out of place.

 

**From: Aurora Dunn.**

**I love fish! ♥**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**we'll sea bout that after 2day**

 

Well now she was concerned, but forced herself to brush it off, stuffing the phone into her pocket and picking up her normal backpack from the corner to check the contents. Inside there was; a small first aid kit, drawing utensils, sketchbook and her journal, but she set aside to fetch something else. She retrieved a new EpiPen from the medicine cabinet and tucked it, along with her inhaler, into the pocket on the front of the bag, zipping it up when she was certain she had everything. 

 

Next, she grabbed the now fully charged oxygen concentrator, hooking the hose onto it and turning it on. Delicately, she went over the settings before fashioning the over-the-shoulder strap through the harness of the backpack so that the small compressor rested on top. This gave her easy access to it while keeping it secured with her belongings. Satisfied that she had everything together in a timely manner, she stuffed her arms into the straps of the bag and hooked the oxygen hose into place: inhaling deeply to adjust to the purified and concentrated air.

 

Heading out of her room, she grabbed two masks and unfurled them, one on top of the other before putting them both on in hopes that two would help prevent another allergic reaction. Her body still ached from the night before, and her eyes felt droopier than usual, but she refused to let this hold her back as she stepped out of the apartment, locking it behind her. 

 

Feeling as ready as she ever would be, the brunette breathed in calmly, then meandered towards the elevator: no sense in tiring herself out so early in the day by taking the stairs. While she waited for it to arrive at her floor, she sent a text to Papyrus to inform him that she was making her way in that direction: the response was nearly immediate.

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**HOW PUNCTUAL!! WE ARE IN THE**

**PROCESS OF SETTING UP, SO TAKE**

**YOUR TIME!**

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**PERHAPS A BRISK JOG**

**AROUND THE BLOCK WILL**

**ROUSE YOUR SENSES?**

 

Snorting, she knew there wasn't a snowball's chance in Hell that she'd be able to run around the block even if she wanted to: her lungs would probably collapse in on themselves ten steps in. Instead, she resolved herself to just walk normally and if they were still setting up when she got there, she'd offer to help. At the same time, she could gather that Papyrus was not one to accept help if he was the one hosting something, even if it was just a picnic. 

 

Still... She wished she had a bit more of a heads up so that she could bring something along as well to show her gratitude for being invited. Wasn't that the common courtesy? She would have to ask what she could bring if they planned to do this again, but meanwhile, she tried to remember where her grandmother's recipe book was: there was a mean strawberry shortcake recipe in it that had always been popular with her friends.

 

Once the elevator brought her to the main floor, Aurora stepped out cautiously, looking around in case her mother was lurking nearby in some elaborate ploy to catch her wandering around. She felt completely silly when the coast was clear and another woman shot her an odd look, blushing in embarrassment. It made her hurry away, leaving the complex to abandon the vague sense of paranoia that tingled at the back of her neck.

 

Yesterday, she had barely made it home before Lacy came home for an impromptu lunch, but she was almost _positive_  that had been a ruse to check up on her. Either way, it made her want to get away as fast as possible in case she _was_  somewhere near, and she hurriedly turned the corner that would take her straight to The Park, grateful that it was close, but in the opposite direction of the hospital her mother worked at.

 

It wasn't until she was halfway there that she spotted Sans in this distance, lounging against a waist high, brick flowerbed: his cart nowhere in sight. He was facing her general direction, but she couldn't tell if he was looking her way or not, and he was too far to call out in greeting so she simply waved just in case he saw her. She blinked, her face twisting in confusion when the space he had been in was now _empty_  and her eyes scanned the general vicinity for him only to find that he had, quite literally, appeared from nowhere and fell into step beside her. 

 

She startled, sucking in air sharply and had to stop walking for a moment to cough violently and catch her breath while her new walking companion sheepishly smiled, his shoulders scrunching upward in a shrug.

 

"heh. sorry pal. didn't mean to scare you out of your skin."

 

Openly gaping at him, Aurora sputtered and pointed a shaking finger at him, then to the place he had previously been. "Y-you...! How? _What?!_ "

 

"where, when and why?" Sans added amicably, his grin forever widening in amusement as he lifted his hands, wiggling his fingers in a mystical manner. "mmmmmagic."

 

"Magic?" She questioned in a whisper mixed with awe and bafflement. 

 

"mmmmagic." He confirmed, motioning for them to continue walking and she slowly begun to follow him. "you alright? you're sounding a bit rough."

 

"O-oh um..." She deliberated whether or not she should say anything about her allergic reaction, a sideways glance towards him alerting her to the fact that he seemed to know _something_  was up from the look he was giving her. "I-I had an a-allergic reaction last night and... I'm... Um... Still r-recovering from it."

 

"yikes. did you go to the hospital?"

 

She shook her head. "No... I used my EpiPen and it s-subsided..." Catching his brow furrowing, she quickly waved her hands around. "B-but don't worry! It's normal to ache s-some the day after! I-I'm alright!"

 

He nodded, but she could tell he didn't quite believe her. Instead of pressing about it, he motioned to the backpack. "you got a new contraption to show paps?"

 

"O-oh! I hadn't thought of it that way." Absently, her fingers fiddled with the excess hose that hung at her side. "T-this one isn't fancy: i-it just purifies the air to help me breathe."

 

Another nod and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "i should probably warn you. paps brought undyne and she can be a bit... heh... much. it wouldn't be _fin_ ny if she scared you off." A casual wink was cast her way. "pap'll be sad."

 

"I'm sure she's not that bad." Especially considering how Papyrus charged her and she screamed at him. "What's she like?"

 

Sans gave a noncommittal hum. " _lake_  a fish."

 

Aurora frowned, unsure as to why he was dancing around the question. "She's a swimmer?" 

 

He chortled. "probably the best you'll find. she's loud too. hope that won't be a _fish_ ue."

 

She chuckled, though she wasn't sure where all the water based puns were coming from. "Your brother was loud, and I rather enjoyed his company."

 

This comment made him beam, his smile appearing a bit more genuine as they fell into a companionable silence while passing the picnic tables. The newfound quiet gave her a chance to look The Park over, blinking when Sans had her turn off the sidewalk to head up the grassy hill. Once the were heading up it, she could hear a series of excitable whoops and hollers that almost made her stop and question if this was where his brother would be. She had yet to see Papyrus, but judging how easygoing her companion seemed, she could only assume that he was near the origins of the shouts, or possibly part of it. 

 

It made her a little nervous, as she didn't have the energy to be part of a rambunctious group, but then again, neither did Sans? To be honest, she had never actually seen him move around as much as she had today, but she chalked it up to him manning a hot dog stand.

 

The moment the hit the top of the hill, she understood where he was coming from with the puns.

 

Papyrus was already there with everything nearly set up, from a sturdy, light blue blanket to a large wicker basket and white dishes, it seemed that the jovial skeleton had no restraint when it came to communal gatherings. The light, spring breeze carried a scent of spices her way and her stomach practically screamed its approval, making her blush in embarrassment when Sans chuckled in amusement. 

 

All of that seemed to fall on the back burner in her mind when she looked away from the setup to find herself staring at what, for lack of better terms, appeared to be a fishy Amazonian. She stood nearly as tall as Papyrus, the top of her crimson ponytail reaching his shoulder, and her skin - scales? - were a soft shade of dodger blue. She was dressed in a red shirt, black jeans, red boots and a black leather jacket that all seemed to accentuate the fact that she was _ripped._

 

Aurora instantly felt small and intimidated, especially when the woman whirled around when Papyrus noticed the newcomers, a single yellow eye zeroing in on her as the fins on either side of her face twitched. She was utterly petrified as the fish-woman gave a feral grin, revealing that her mouth was packed with razor sharp teeth. It took everything in her power to not turn around and completely run away, actively making an attempt to keep an open mind. 

 

She did, however, shriek when the nearly seven and a half foot tall woman sprinted towards them at a break neck speed. Without thinking, she ripped her wallet from her pocket and threw it at her, moving her arms to shield her face.

 

"T-take my money! D-don't hurt me!"

 

The Amazon was barely a few feet away when Aurora's wallet hit her square in the face, bringing her to a dead stop. Upon seeing this, Sans burst into a fit of roaring guffaws, doubling over as he clutched at his stomach, and behind the woman, Papyrus gasped shrilly, his eyes nearly bulging from his skull. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest and a bout of coughs worked their way up to her throat, forcing her to lower her hands and lurch forward somewhat, pressing her hands against her chest to calm herself. 

 

Her face burned with embarrassment when she realized what she had done and it was an incredible feat of willpower to keep her shaking knees from buckling and her unsteady breath from quickening. Face red and eyes damp, she dared to peek through her lashes at the woman, shrinking under the golden eye that stared her down and yet, she couldn't help but notice the leather eye patch that made the woman look all the more tough.

 

Suddenly, a large hand clamped down on her shoulder and her heart jumped to her throat; _Oh God this is where I die, isn't it?_

 

"NGAHAHA! Not bad reflexes for a WEENIE!" The woman laughed, the sound rough and genial. With that said, she scooped down and snatched the wallet up off the ground, passing it back to Aurora, who shyly returned it to her pocket. "The name's Undyne! Nice to meet you, PUNK!"

 

The hand on her shoulder moved to her head and Undyne dug her knuckles into her scalp in a noogie. "I-I-I'm A-Aurora- _ow_ \- n-nice to meet y-you?" Managing to back out of the friendly(?) gesture, she smoothed down her hair as best as possible. "I-I'm s-so sorry for throwing m-my wallet at you..."

 

This made Undyne squint at her in confusion. "What? _Why!?_ "

 

"It... Was rude...?"

 

She cackled loudly and grabbed Aurora by the bicep, proceeding to drag her towards the picnic blanket while the small human sent Sans a desperate look, receiving a shrug and a grin in return. " _Rude!?_  You see a person running at you and you're _sorry_  for defending yourself? Are you _nuts?!_ "

 

"MASKED HUMAN! I SEE YOU ARE MAKING FAST FRIENDS WITH UNDYNE!" Papyrus cut off any answer Aurora could have made, coming to her other side and taking her other bicep. Suddenly between the two, her feet were no longer touching the ground as they sped towards the picnic area. She was almost certain her stomach was left behind with Sans. "I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME! OUR CULINARY EXCURSION TO MAKE YOUR TOMATO FREE MEAL WAS CERTAINLY AN ENDEAVOR, THOUGH NOT ONE TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS... BUT IT IS TOO BAD YOU CANNOT HAVE MY DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI!"

 

"Yeah, what kind of weenie can't have tomatoes!?" Undyne almost growled and half shoved her into a sitting position on the blanket.

 

"I-I'm s-so sorry for t-the trouble..." She managed to squeak, practically cowering as her heart pounded painfully against her chest.

 

She was beginning to feel lightheaded from the excitement and anxiety... 

 

"HUMAN? YOU LOOK CONSIDERABLY MORE PALE THAN YOU DID A MOMENT AGO. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus leaned down, his eyes scanning her critically. "...OH! I... HUMAN! DID YOU PERHAPS SKIP BREAKFAST BECAUSE... YOU WERE SO EXCITED TO TRY MY MASTERPIECE!?!" She opened her mouth to respond, but he was quicker. "YOU MUST HAVE HEARD OF MY EXPERTISE AND WANTED TO BE CERTAIN YOU HAD AN EMPTY STOMACH! WHILE THAT IS FLATTERING, YOU MUST EAT BREAKFAST! IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY- NYEH!"

 

Sans plopped down nearby. "you _reel_ ly should eat three meals, buddy."

 

"SANS. NO PUNS."

 

"yeah, probably not the time or _plaice_." He said and both Papyrus and Undyne groaned at the same time, the latter baring her teeth at him. "welp. if looks could _krill_..."

 

Aurora gave a small giggle and cautiously played along. "Careful, Sans, or they might _conch-fish_ -cate your pun license." 

 

His eyes sparkled with amusement, but the taller skeleton adopted a look of horror as he dug into the wicker basket and Undyne huffed in annoyance. "Great. _Another_  comedian."

 

She shrank back, looking sheepish. "Sorry... My brother sent me a joke book recently that he found at a _prawn_  shop."

 

Papyrus shook his head while Sans burst into pleased chuckling. "I DID NOT KNOW YOU HAD A BROTHER AS WELL."

 

"Y-you _did_  just meet me yesterday..." The enticing smell was stronger now that he was pulling out containers of food. "B-but he's away at college, s-so he's only home for holidays."

 

"AH! FURTHERING ONE'S EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT!" She noticed there was an abnormally large container of spaghetti and sitting next to it was a small one in comparison that she assumed had the special made noodles. "WHY, SANS IS-"

 

"Yeah, yeah. Nerds are great. Sans is a nerd, you're a nerd: we're all nerds. I wanna know more about _YOU_ , Punk!" Undyne all but demanded, pulling out a large thermos, a bottle of soda and a bottle of ketchup, which was passed to Sans with a look of disgust. "What do you want to drink: green tea or soda?"

 

"T-tea please..."

 

A sharp looking grin and a white, plastic teacup was procured. "Good choice: who needs this sugar crap!?" 

 

The soda bottle was hurled towards the nearest trashcan which was approximately an eighth of a mile away. To her surprise, the bottle fell inside, though there was a spray of cola flying everywhere when the bottle exploded on impact: further making her more terrified of the woman. "U-um..."

 

"Hey! Chill out: not like I'm gonna bite you. Stop looking so freaked out!" Undyne scolded fiercely, uncapping the thermos and pouring the tea while Papyrus happily slapped spaghetti onto plates.

 

"S-sorry! I'm just... E-excited to try the food...?" She attempted to lie about her anxiety and was almost certain it fell short as she took the offered cup from her. "I-it smells r-really good..."

 

As if agreeing with her, her stomach growled again.

 

"WOWIE! THEN ALLOW ME TO KEEP YOU IN SUSPENSE NO LONGER!" Exuberantly, the contents of the small container was dumped onto a plate and passed her way. "BONE APPÉITE!"

 

Aurora had no idea if that pun was intentional or not, but it was adorable.

 

"let her take her bag off first, bro." Sans patiently told him, gesturing for her to do so. She slowly pulled her arms free of the straps, setting the bag directly beside her so that her hose wouldn't tug. "heh. now you can feed her."

 

Gratefully, she accepted the plate, shifting her legs into a more comfortable position so that she was sitting more on her rear than putting pressure on her knees. Then she carefully held it in one as so that she could reach up, hesitantly peeling the masks off her face, placing it on top of her bag. All three monsters seemed to scan her face over and she struggled to keep her head help up as the urge to duck down to avoid any judgmental stares nearly overwhelmed her. 

 

She continued breathing through her nose to keep her grounded, telling herself that they meant nothing wrong. 

 

Mentally crossing her fingers that whatever set off her allergic reaction yesterday wouldn't do so again today, she sent a wobbly smile to Papyrus when he handed her a fork. She eyed the plated of food curiously, twisting the fork in the plate of angel hair pasta and noting that it was drenched in a thick, creamy white sauce that appeared to have bits of mushroom, basil and minced garlic floating about in abundance. 

 

Bringing the fork to her mouth, she noticed Sans cringe sympathetically while Undyne and Papyrus watched with bated breath as she delicately took a small bite.

 

Chewing carefully, she could taste an unbelievable amount of garlic and felt that despite its creamy look, the sauce was in fact, quite lumpy while the pasta itself was severely undercooked. In the face of the facts: she was suddenly grateful for her illness that had diluted her ability to taste. She couldn't imagine the assault on her mouth had she been able to taste this like a normal person and she could only assume that this was the reason for Sans' facial expression. 

 

Once the food was chewed up thoroughly, she swallowed and offered a smile when she saw Papyrus staring at her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. He was just too sweet that she knew that she just couldn't bring herself to tell him that it was grievously over spiced. All she could really do is thank whatever god that was listening that her taste buds were practically dead.

 

"WELL? HOW IS IT?" He wrung his hands in anticipation, leaning forward to hear her response.

 

"I-it's delicious, Papyrus." She did her best to smile genuinely.

 

"OH! SHE LIKES IT! SHE LIKES IT!" He crowed happily.

 

Sans blinked in surprise. "what?"

 

" _WHAT!?_ " Undyne reeled back, her eye wide before it narrowed and she grabbed her own fork. "Let me try!"

 

Aurora held the plate in both hands and offered it to her: the fact she took only a tiny piece of pasta and even smaller mushroom not going unnoticed. It was dropped into her mouth and right away, her face seemed to gain a green tint and it looked as though it was a struggle to keep it in her maw. She gripped her stomach tightly and Aurora pulled the plate back, half expecting the fish-woman to vomit then and there.

 

 With a great deal of effort, Undyne swallowed, sweat dripping down the side of her face and she forced herself to grin, her upper lip spasming from the effort. Papyrus seemed flattered just by the expression and she couldn't help but wonder if he could differentiate between disgusted and blissful expressions, but decided to not question it.

 

"It's great, Paps." Undyne managed to wheeze out, taking a large gulp of tea the moment the skeleton looked away from her.

 

"WELL OF _COURSE_  IT IS! I TOOK GREAT CARE TO MAKE IT ESPECIALLY FOR OUR NEW HUMAN FRIEND!"

 

"Aw," Said human felt color rise to her cheeks and she took another small bite of the pasta, vaguely wondering if it would upset her stomach later. After a moment of chewing, she caught Sans' look of bewilderment. "Is something wrong, Sans?"

 

"er..." Tiny blue beads of sweat dotted his brow and he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing on his skull. _How interesting_! "nah. _dough_ n't worry: everything is _pici_."

 

She giggled, twirling her fork in her noodles as Papyrus heaved a long suffering sigh as he handed Undyne a plate of spaghetti. "I guess puns are just in _grained_ in your daily conversations."

 

"O- _kay_. Back to grilling the human with questions." Undyne barked, cutting Sans off as he was about to shoot back another pun.

 

A scandalized expression overtook the jovial skeleton and he wagged a gloved finger at his friend. "WE DO NOT GRILL HUMANS! THEY ARE FRIENDS: NOT FOOD!"

 

"That's not what I- _aw_  forget it." She jabbed her fork into her spaghetti, unenthusiastically cramming it in her mouth and swallowing it without chewing. "Where do you live, Punk? Do you live alone?"

 

Aurora sipped her tea and set it aside before answering. "Just a few blocks away. I live with my mother for... Um..." Her hand motioned to the hose and oxygen concentrator on her bag. "Medical reasons."

 

"What the hell is even wrong with you anyways? I've never seen a human look so _twiggy_!" As if to prove her point, she wrapped a clawed hand around the wrist of her hand that had been holding her fork. It completely engulfed it with room to spare. "It's kinda _gross_  looking!"

 

"UNDYNE!"

 

_Ouch._  Aurora winced at the more-than-likely-unintentional insult and focused her eyes on the plate in her hand, patiently waiting for the other to be released. She did her best to not let it get under her skin, but the Amazon-like monster continued. "What? It's true! I've never seen one look like they would _break_  if I breathed too hard! So what's the deal, Punk? What's wrong with you?"

 

Sans frowned. "hey. i _fin_ k you should stop."

 

_She doesn't mean anything by it_. The human breathed a bit harder through her nose, trying to keep herself calm and keep her stinging eyes from tearing up. _She doesn't know any better... It's not often you see someone like me..._ The words did little to soothe her and she weakly tried to pull her hand away, but Undyne either didn't notice or didn't care, taking the fork from her and bringing her tiny hand closer to her face to look it over disparagingly. 

 

Anxiety coursed through her veins like a wildfire and suddenly, her throat began to tighten, making it harder to breathe and the urge to throw up hit her like a bag of bricks. Quickly, she set the plate down before her shaking hand dropped it and she gripped her own arm in an attempt to tug free.

 

"P-please let go..." Her voice cracked and she could feel a cough building in her chest. Should she try to get her arm free, or go for her inhaler...?

 

Undyne narrowed her eye. "What's your deal? I'm not hurting you."

 

"UNDYNE, YOU'RE STRESSING THE HUMAN!"

 

Feeling trapped, Aurora suddenly yanked her arm as hard as possible, surprising herself and her captor when she actually jerked free, though it was a moment short-lived when her arm shot back and smacked her in the face. Realizing what happened, she looped an arm through a strap of her bag and snatched the masks off the blanket, though she dropped one in her panic. Struggling to get her quivering legs to cooperate enough to let her stand, she got to her feet and swayed momentarily, forcing her to hold still a moment. Her heart violently pounded in her chest as she put the remaining mask on despite Papyrus' worried questions, and finally stood after what seemed like ages, though it was only a few seconds.

 

"I-I have to go... I-I'm s-sorry! T-thank you for lunch..." She spoke in a rush, turning away and walking away as fast as her unsteady legs would allow.

 

Papyrus was standing, calling after her. "H-HUMAN! WAIT!"

 

 Sans shook his head at him, holding up a hand to keep him from sprinting after her. "give her a little space, bro. that was probably too much for her to handle."

 

"What the hell is _her_  problem!?" Undyne snarled, half standing to chase her down.

 

"i dunno. maybe it was the _cray_ -zy fish lady callin' her gross." He shot her an unamused look, but made sure to keep an eye on Papyrus.

 

_"Me!?_  I was just asking her a freaking question!" Her claws twitched, a blue light crackling around her fingers as she got more agitated. "I didn't _know_  she would have a meltdown over it!"

 

"BROTHER..." Sans flinched at the worried tone. "DO YOU THINK SHE WILL BE ALRIGHT? SHE LOOKED UNWELL..."

 

Forcing a smile, he nodded. "she'll be okay. why don't you put her food away so you can give it to her later?"

 

This served to cheer him up somewhat. "WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA! SHE MUST HAVE PURPOSEFULLY LEFT IT BEHIND SO THAT SHE WOULD HAVE ANOTHER REASON TO SEE ME AGAIN!"

 

Undyne snorted, but wisely kept quiet on the matter.

 

"WE WILL HAVE TO GO OVER HUMAN ETIQUETTE, UNDYNE. WHAT YOU SAID TO THE HUMAN WAS VERY NOT-NICE." Papyrus added as an afterthought, but the sharp look in his eyes said he was not pleased with what had occurred. "I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD CANNOT BEFRIEND A HUMAN."

 

_"WHAT!?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you are, dearies~ That went rather well, don't you think? No? Well then. Maybe it'll go better next week~
> 
> What are the odds that after three months of planning this story, I end up having to go the hospital because my gallbladder thinks it's too good to party with the rest of the organs? Oh well... IT IS A CHANCE TO DO RESEARCH!!!! Rest assured that I will be pestering my nurses to help me make this story as accurate as possible!
> 
> Like what I do~? [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Got a question? Holla at my Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden
> 
> Until next Sunday, dearies~! Ta~


	5. Uh-Oh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What a coincidence! Now meet the Author- oh and also get out.

It was several days before Aurora felt like leaving her bedroom again.

 

Having fled the picnic the other day, she had come home in tears and in such a state of anxiety that she had to dig out her nebulizer when her inhaler was proving to be useless in helping her airways reopen. She knew that Undyne was (probably) only curious, as it was rare to see such a sickly person away from their homes and hospitals, but it still struck a sensitive chord with her that just reminded her as to why she had stopped hanging around people in the first place. 

 

The questioning had made her backpedal, remembering that being around others _always_  brought the interrogations and the giddiness she felt when speaking to the skeletons was brought to a screeching halt. She knew that they too would get tired of being patient with her illness and ask why she wasn't getting any better: something which she didn't have the answer to.

 

Why couldn't people understand that if she knew _why_  she was sick, and if there was a solution, that she would have already gone through with it!?

 

So, she ignored the worried texts and calls that blew up her now-silenced phone, retreating into her shell and refusing to leave home. It wasn't worth the anxiety. The stress made her sick. She wasn't _worth_  spending time with; she was nothing but a burden and she loathed herself for it. 

 

She made it a point to close the curtains on the door that led to the balcony attached to her bedroom and she curled up on her bed, only leaving it to relieve herself in the bathroom. It was ridiculous: she knew that. Her actions were nothing short of ridiculous, but she just couldn't help the feeling utterly terrified at the thought of trying the scenario again. 

 

What if she had to be near Undyne again? What if they wanted to go somewhere and do something that she just _couldn't_? It was embarrassing to explain to people and it was just easier for everybody if she just didn't put herself out there.

 

At the same time, she couldn't help but feel unbelievably childish.

 

Her mother was obviously pleased that she was staying in bed as well, coming home from working at the hospital each day to dote on her, much to her chagrin. Lacy preferred to be directly involved in taking care of her, no matter how many times Aurora protested or insisted she could do it on her own, but she supposed she should be grateful that someone was willing to put up with her nonsense. 

 

She checked her vitals, administered her medication and kept a thorough record of symptoms, dosages and the such, so there was really no reason for her to complain at all; she was her mother, so it was only natural, right?

 

It was the third morning into her self-imposed isolation that she decided to shower, tired of feeling sticky from her sweat and once she emerged clean and dressed in an oversized shirt that fell to her mid thighs, she actually felt somewhat better. Of course, that had also been the day her mother had decided to open the curtains in an attempt to brighten the room, but the warmth of the sunlight was actually... Refreshing. Her eyes had grown used to the darkness of her bedroom and when she stared out the sliding glass door, her eyes ached at the warming sensation.

 

Aurora's fingers absently braided her hair and left it draped over her shoulder as she thoughtfully stared out the door, briefly picking up her phone to see if her mother had messaged her. It looked like a nice day out, and she did have a balcony set that consisted of two chairs and a small table out there... It was tempting to take a book out and read to soak up some much needed sun and as though her feet had gained a mind of their own, she found herself going to the bookshelf in the living room. 

 

Her hazel orbs scanned the titles analytically, mindlessly placing her cellphone on the shelf as she searched for the perfect story to indulge in before plucking a murder mystery off the shelf and pivoting on her heel to go into the kitchen. 

 

She procured a bottle of of juice and tossed a few grapes into a bowl, balancing the items in both arms as she returned to her bedroom. The glass door was nudged open with her hip and she quickly set everything down on the table so that she could run back inside for a mask and a shawl. Putting them on, she sank into one of the cushioned chairs, stretching out her thin legs and letting out a contented sigh when her naturally cold body begun to soak up the warmth. 

 

She closed her eyes for a few long moments, simply basking in the sunlight until her body felt invigorated enough to pick up the book and open it to the first page.

 

The book sucked her in, allowing her imagination to run rampant as the story's detective came across the first of many bodies that would terrorize his city. She occasionally took a sip of her juice or chewed on a grape, but otherwise, she steadily flipped through the pages of the novel without pause. It was approximately an hour later when her hand dipped into the now empty bowl, the action making her blink and lift her head in surprise when she realized just how much time had passed. 

 

Dully, she noted that the sun was at an apex in the sky and she stretched her limbs, setting the book on the table to take a brief break.

 

The small woman stood, shuffling to the metal railing that enclosed her balcony in and folded her arms on top of it, leaning on it. Her eyes lazily looked around as she watched her neighbors and fellow apartment residents milled about their lives. 

 

The horseshoe shape of the seven storied building made it easy for her to watch her neighbors come and go from the courtyard and communal garden below, and she could also sometimes (unintentionally) see inside the other apartments. For the most part, she attempted to avoid that, but felt no shame in seeing what people were up to when they were out on their own balconies. So when the ground below proved to be uneventful, she turned her gaze eye-level.

 

Considering how it was the middle of the day on a Thursday, there were only a couple other people home and only three other people outside that she could see. None of them were doing anything interesting so she simply stared at the tenant directly across from her and lifted her brows when she saw slippered feet peeking over their railing. If she squinted and adjusted the angle she was standing at, she could see that there was a person bonelessly slumped in what looked like an uncomfortable position with their feet thrown up on the railing.

 

To each their own, she supposed.

 

Aurora was about to turn away and go indoors to give her skin a break from the scalding light when suddenly a shout came from below. " _OH MY GOD!_ "

 

Startled, she quickly looked down to see what was happening and was greeted with the sight of a tall skeleton pointing right at her excitedly, his arms loaded with what looked like twenty grocery bags. It didn't seem to weigh him down though, and he went to run one direction, stopping short a few steps away before turning to do the same in the opposite direction as if he was conflicted in which way he should go. 

 

An ice cold realization seeped into her veins when it clicked that the skeleton was _Papyrus_  and he now knew she lived in this building. She desperately prayed that he couldn't figure out which apartment number she was and she stepped backwards to hide indoors.

 

"MASKED HUMAN!" He shouted up at her, waving his hands in a "stay put" motion. "DON'T GO ANYWHERE! I WILL VISIT YOU MOMENTARILY!" He charged towards the entrance of the building. " _SANS!_ I FOUND THE MASKED HUMAN!"

 

Her heart pounded but when she looked up, it nearly flew right out of her chest when she looked up and made eye contact with Sans, who had been the person lounging directly across from her. He looked just as surprised as her, though she didn't stick around to see what his expression might have evolved into as she grabbed her belongings and dashed inside. 

 

The door was shut and locked behind her and the curtains were sharply yanked shut, plunging her room into darkness once more. Coughing, she dropped her book onto the bed and took the bowl to be washed in the kitchen in an endeavor to calm herself down from the shock.

 

Placing the bowl in her sink, she paused a moment to collect herself, then neatly stacked the dishes her mother had used that morning. She may as well wash them all, right? With that train of thought, she filled the sink and set to scrubbing and tried her best to ignore her rising anxieties. Papyrus knew she where she lived and had proclaimed that he would be there in a moment, but there was just _no way_  he knew her exact apartment, right? Surely he wouldn't go through all the effort of trying to locate which balcony she had been on, then match it to the apartment number... Right?

 

She aggressively scrubbed at a stubborn bit of burnt egg on a skillet as though it had personally offended her.

 

At the same time, _Sans_  had also spotted her directly across from where he was, so maybe it wouldn't be too hard for them to figure out? That just made her stomach twist uncomfortably and she wanted to melt into a puddle. She had specifically stopped going out to avoid them, and now the random monsters she had met at the local park probably lived on the same floor as her? 

 

Lady Luck must've hated her because the chances of that being a thing that happens was next to none. She had never even seen them in the complex before and- _Oh God_. What if _Undyne_  lived there too!?

 

Out of nowhere, she heard a loud, thumping knock on her neighbor's door, followed by the muffled voice of the elderly man that sometimes came over to check on her. "Who is it?"

 

She nearly threw the plate in her hands when a booming voice responded. "IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! DOES THE MASKED HUMAN LIVE HERE?" 

 

Dropping the plate into the sink, Aurora quickly ran over to the wall that separated the two apartments and listened carefully. ""Masked human"- you mean Aurora? Are you one of her friends?"

 

"YES! WE ARE THE CHUMMIEST OF PALS! THE MOST BOSOM-Y OF BUDDIES! THE MOST... ER... WE ARE VERY GOOD FRIENDS!"

 

There was a stoic pause and she could almost imagine the old man in her mind: from his short and stocky stature to his shiny bald head and coke-bottle spectacles. She had taken quite a liking to him when they had first moved here, as he was a widower and Army veteran that had a rough, but loving heart. He had come over when they were settling into their home, introducing himself as "Jim Moretti" and gifted them with a superb apple pie. 

 

He had told the two women that if they ever needed anything, he would "be there in a jiffy" and insisted on helping them unpack. Aurora had been touched by his kindness, but her mother, Lacy, had warned her from spending too much time with him as he could get her sick if he had his own medical problems to deal with.

 

She never talked about it to her mother, but she still visits him every now and then despite the warning.

 

Therefore she wasn't surprised when she heard the old man huff and say, "One more over: I think I heard her moving around a bit ago. Cause any trouble and I'll break your damn kneecaps."

 

"NYOOOO! MY KNEECAPS ARE MOST VITAL TO ME!"

 

"Then don't cause trouble." The door slammed shut, signaling the end of the conversation and she couldn't help but giggle.

 

Her laugh was cut short with three sharp raps to her door and she froze. The anxiety she had been feeling since she had been discovered boiled in her guts, and the urge to puke hit her like a freight train even though no bile rose in her mouth. She wanted to pretend she wasn't home, but Mr Moretti had pointed out that she was most likely there and she doubted Papyrus would give up so easily. Even worse, what if her mother came home to find a skeleton monster banging on their door? She would call the police or mace him: or both!

 

Resigning herself to her fate, she sighed heavily and went to the door and slid the barrel bolt lock in place in case he tried to push inside, then opened the door as far as the chain would allow. Papyrus immediately leaned down so that he was on her level. "MASKED HUMAN! OH I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE LOCATED YOU!"

 

"Um... H-hi." she blandly said, unsure of what to say.

 

He lifted something in his hands and she glanced down to see it was a container of pasta. "I BROUGHT YOU YOUR PASTA! YOU FORGOT TO TAKE IT WITH YOU." Orange beads of sweat formed on his temple when she didn't open the door. "MAY I COME IN...?"

 

Reluctantly, she shut the door to undo the bolt and stepped aside to let him in despite her urge to slam the door shut. Eagerly, he ducked through the doorway and stood full height with a few inches between the top of his skull and the ceiling. Immediately, he was taking in the sight of her thread bare apartment, frowning slightly but he returned his attention to her and handed her the container.

 

"ALLOW ME TO REMOVE MY BOOTS SO THAT I DO NOT DIRTY YOUR CARPET!" he proclaimed and stooped over to attack his shoelaces.

 

"Thanks..." she murmured, taking the bowl of questionable pasta to the kitchen. "S-so... How did you find m-my apartment..?"

 

"OH, I KNOCKED ON EVERY DOOR UNTIL I CAME ACROSS YOUR PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE NEIGHBOR!"

 

_What?_  

 

Setting it on the counter, Aurora turned to say something only to have the words catch in her throat. Instead, she let out a choked gasp when she saw Sans sitting on one of the bar stools beside the counter as though he has been there all along. She coughed harshly, grasping the sink tightly as the hoarse sound turned to a retching gag that made both skeletons cringe. Fumbling, she hurriedly opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a spare inhaler, though this time she struggled to breathe deeply enough to get a proper dosage.

 

"sorry about that." Sans' grin dropped into a look of concern. "you gonna be okay, buddy?"

 

Ignoring him, she stumbled around the counter and made a beeline for the large oxygen concentrator against the wall in the living room. Coughs still plagued her as she unhooked the hose she normally used, pulling a different one off the hook on the side that had a oxygen mask attachment that would cover her nose and mouth. It was quickly plugged in and the machine powered on, leaving her to pull the straps of the mask over her head and settling it over her face. 

 

She sagged into the couch and nearby, Papyrus fretted worriedly, wringing his gloved hands together while suppressing the urge to jump in to help. Sans, on the other hand, looked vaguely disturbed by the sickening sounds escaping her: it sounded like something straight from a horror movie.

 

He half expected blood to pour from her mouth and eyes any minute now.

 

Fortunately, that never happened as the human's breathing slowly returned to normal with an occasional hack and wheeze and finally turned her head to observe the two skeletons in her home. They gave her nervous grins in an uncanny act of synchronicity and she could only sigh and point at the shorter brother. "W-where did _you_  come from?"

 

Sans shrugged, his shoulders hiking up so far that she was almost worried his hoodie would swallow him whole. "mmmagic."

 

"That's not-" Pressing her fingertips to her temples, she shook her head. "W-whatever. What did you want?"

 

"WELL... WE HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT YOU SINCE THE PICNIC!" Papyrus stood awkwardly in the center of the living room, causing her to have to crane her neck back to meet his eyes. "BUT YOU APPEARED TO HAVE LOST YOUR CELLULAR DEVICE, AS YOU HAVE NOT RESPONDED."

 

"I see." Her response was neutral and the still standing skeleton begun to look around curiously to abate the tense atmosphere.

 

"WOWIE! IS THAT A BOOK?" Realizing what he said, he ducked his head when he caught her quirking a brow and busied himself with reading the titles on the shelf. "I FANCY MYSELF A BOOK LOVER AS WELL: YES YES, THIS HERE IS A FINE COLLECTION OF... MANY OF THE SAME NOVELS? HM." 

 

"look, we just wanted to apologize for undyne's actions." Sans added before she could react to Papyrus' oddities and she glanced over to find him nervously spinning the stool back and forth. "she, uh, i  _did_  tell you she could be a bit much."

 

Aurora cringed at the name of the fishy Amazon. "I-I should have expected it. She's n-not wrong."

 

Papyrus looked as though he wanted to protest, but his eyes grew large and a cry of triumph was emitted: in his hand was her battered ol' phone. "I HAVE LOCATED YOUR CELLPHONE! NOW YOU CAN RESPOND TO OUR MESSAGES!"

 

Bashful at the reminder that she had essentially been ignoring them - and the deadpan look his brother shot her, Aurora cleared her throat. "U-um... Thank you? I- er. Thanks."

 

"YOU ARE MOST WELCOME! I AM EXCELLENT AT FINDING THINGS AND AM MOST PLEASED WITH USING THIS TALENT TO AID OTHERS!" He beamed and struck a gallant pose with one hand on his sternum and the other on his hip.

 

_Aw_ , Aurora thought with a small smile, _he's too precious._

 

He then gestured to the shelf that was lined with multiple copies of the same book. "YOU MUST TREASURE THIS STORY TO HAVE SO MANY COPIES LABELED WITH YOUR NAME!"

 

She frowned, not knowing what he was talking about for a moment, but it suddenly dawned on her when she saw he was motioning to the row of books labeled " _The Firefly Lamp: By Aurora May Dunn._ "

 

"Oh, those are just advanced copies of my novel. The publisher sent it to me to pass out to friends and family."

 

There was a beat of silence before his hands shot straight to his cheeks and his eyes seemed to sparkle. " _YOU_  WROTE THEM!?"

 

She nodded and gave a vague motion. "You can have one if you want it."

 

He squealed in excitement, yanking one of the hardbacks off the shelf and holding it close to his face as he gave the back cover a good look over. "BROTHER! WE SHALL HAVE TO READ THIS TONIGHT: OUR GOOD FRIEND WROTE IT, SO IT _MUST_  BE GREAT!"

 

Aurora flinched when he said they were friends, the guilt of ignoring them suddenly rearing its head and attacking her insides. "U-um... Hope y-you like it... S-say, d-do you need a drink?"

 

She stood, shutting off the machine and removing her mask, then worked her way back into the kitchen in an effort to at least play the part of hostess somewhat decently. Sans' stare followed her to the refrigerator and she couldn't bring herself to meet his eye. "sure. got any ketchup?"

 

Casting a bemused look towards him, she obliged anyways and set a bottle of ketchup on the counter. "P-Papyrus..? Did you want anything?"

 

"TEA WOULD BE NICE," He was studying the back cover with great interest. "CHAMOMILE, IF YOU HAVE IT." 

 

Opening the cabinet above the sink, she pulled out two boxes and read their labels and much to her luck, one was indeed, chamomile. It took her a moment to locate the tea kettle, but she was soon filling it with water and placing it upon the stove before turning her attention to the ketchup. "U-um... Did you want it with something..?"

 

The shit-eating grin replaced Sans' observant stare and he leaned forward on the counter, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "in a cup with a crazy straw, please."

 

Her brows shot straight up, but she humored him by retrieving a glass and filling it with the tomato-y substance, then meticulously hunting down one of the curly, silly straws kept for the sake of her younger cousins that visited on rare occasions. Sticking it in the glass, she slid it over to him before turning her attention to the whistling kettle and pulled down a coffee mug, nodding when he sent her a thanks. She opened the tea bag and plopped it into the cup, mindfully uncapping the kettle's spout before she slowly poured the boiling water into the mug.

 

Setting the kettle aside, she turned around to the sight of Sans actually drinking the ketchup through the straw and she nearly dropped the cup in shock. Choosing to not say anything, she gave him a look that obviously showed that she was both disgusted and curious, carrying the mug of tea over to Papyrus. He tucked his new book under his arm and took the mug, bringing it to his face to smell the calming aroma with a satisfied sigh while Aurora began to shuffle back towards the kitchen.

 

"NOW THAT WE HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER AGAIN, WE MUST BRING UNDYNE OVER TO APOLOGIZE FOR HER NOT-NICE BEHAVIOR!" The energetic monster chirped and she almost ejected her stomach's contents then and there. "I KNOW! I WILL CALL HER RIGHT NOW!"

 

" _No!_ " The shout escaped her before she could reel it in and the anxiety was pounding at her temples mercilessly. "P-please d-don't..."

 

Papyrus looked genuinely confused by her plea. "DON'T?"

 

She wasn't sure how to say that she was terrified of his friend. "we _shoal_ 'd give her time to get used to us first, bro. undyne was over _krill_."

 

The nauseous feeling in her gut prevented her from laughing, but she was grateful when Papyrus put his phone away with a sigh. "I-I... I'm just n-not used to people... Let a-alone monsters... It's a-a lot to take in..."

 

He made a sound of understanding. "THAT IS QUITE ALRIGHT, HUMAN. WE SHALL JUST HAVE TO GET YOU ACCUSTOMED TO THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS BEFORE INTRODUCING YOU TO UNDYNE AGAIN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH FUN IT CAN BE; NYEHEHE-"

 

The sound of keys hitting the ground cut off Papyrus' cackle and all three of them turned to see Lacy standing in the doorway. There was a look of horror on her face when she saw her daughter in the same room as an abnormally tall skeleton and equally short counterpart - who was also drinking ketchup from a glass through a curly straw. 

 

Aurora, on the other hand, looked pale and ready to throw up when she realized that her very anti-monster mother caught her with two of said beings in their apartment. Papyrus, of course, seemed absolutely ecstatic that he could meet another human, moving forward to greet the newcomer warmly.

 

"OH HELLO! YOU MUST BE THE HUMAN'S MOTHER! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" 

 

He stuck out his hand to shake, but the blond only glanced at it before leaning to the side to peer around him. "Aurora What do you think you're _doing_ , dressed like that."

 

The brunette blanched when she realized that she was only dressed in a large shirt and lacked any pants that prompted a slur of stammers. "I-I-I... T-the s-shower... U-um..."

 

The older woman shook her head, glaring icily at Sans when he frowned at her from behind her daughter. "she looks fine to me."

 

"YES, CONSIDERING HER HEALTH, HER STATE OF DRESS CAN EASILY BE EXCUSED!" 

 

She ignored them, stepping around the taller of the two to approach Aurora with her jaw clenched and a furious flush blooming on her cheeks. The sickly human prepared to speak up to diffuse the situation, but before she could get anything out, her upper bicep was caught in a vice-like grip. She was suddenly jerked towards the hall leading to her bedroom, only to have her arm released and a hand pressed against her back in a shove. 

 

She stumbled, having been caught off guard from the forceful action and nearly lost her balance when Sans was suddenly _there_ , catching her hands to keep her from falling flat on her face.

 

Her breath hitching in her throat due to the growing tension, it took all that she had to keep her knees from buckling as he helped right her. An angry hiss came from behind her and just as swiftly as he had been there, her mother swooped in, prying their hands apart and pushing Aurora into the hall. By now, Papyrus was catching on to what was happening and took a step forward but stopped when she shook her head with a pleading look in her eyes, his brother joining him at his side.

 

Aurora, on the other hand, allowed herself to be corralled down the hallway and her mother urged her into her bedroom. "We'll talk _later_."

 

Yanking the bedroom door shut, Lacy turned and stomped back down the hallway, failing to notice the door silently open again when she glowered at the two monsters in her living room.

 

" _Get out_." She hissed, her hands tightly made into fists at her sides. "You get out and _stay away_  from my daughter. You disgusting _creatures_  can just go back to the hole you came crawling out of! You hear me?!"

 

They stared at her in shock. "I... AM SORRY?"

 

" _GET OUT_!" she shrieked.

 

The skeleton brothers exchanged a glance and Sans caught sight of Aurora peeking her head out of the door with a distraught expression. Beside him, he could feel Papyrus' urge to argue and talk to the woman while spouting nonsense about friendship. For him, all it took was one glance at the woman to see that she _hated_  monsters and wouldn't be moved on the subject anytime soon, yet he couldn't help but feel bad for _Aurora_ after seeing the way her mother completely manhandle her the way she did. 

 

He could only imagine how much trouble she was going to be in when they left, so he gritted his teeth in a strained smile and tugged his brother towards the door, barely giving him enough time to grab his boots. "sorry to bother you, _neighbor_."

 

The door was slammed shut behind them so hard, the walls rattled, though Mr Moretti seemed unimpressed as he was already leaning against his door to see the duo off. "God awful, ain't she? Don't let her get to ya: that kid needs the company something fierce. Keep at it, ol' boys."

 

It was just the thing Papyrus needed to hear. "OF COURSE! I AM THE VERY BEST OF FRIENDS AND WILL NOT GIVE UP! COME ALONG SANS. WE MUST PREPARE FOR THIS NEW PUZZLE: AFTER ALL, YOU CAN'T SPELL PREPARED WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME! NYEHEH~"

 

Sans grinned lazily, following his brother who practically skipped down the hallway despite the circumstance. "you're so cool, bro."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whomp whomp, what a jerk that Lacy is. 
> 
> Also, next week's chapter may be posted later in the day, but don't worry! It'll come~ If you notice an update is late or something, I'll post on my Twitter is something is up so you're not left in the dark.
> 
> Like what I do? [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Got a question? Holla at my Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden
> 
> Until next Sunday, dearies~! Ta~


	6. Yes you CAN!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texts and The Plans. And fish screaming.

Sans felt sick.

 

Not in a way that implied he was sick, but more of a "I really don't like what I saw" feeling that made his magic churn questionably.

 

Having discovered that Aurora lived directly across from their apartment, he wasn't surprised that Papyrus had literally burst into their home and threw the groceries down, only to sprint right out the door and down the hallway. Ever since the picnic, his brother had been lamenting on the fact that the human hadn't responded to any of his texts and calls, and Sans just knew then and there that Undyne had scared her off. 

 

She didn't even come to the park to draw like before; making it painfully obvious that she was distancing herself from the skeletons. Both brothers were fairly disappointed, but Papyrus held onto the theory that she just lost her phone.

 

While Papyrus was stirring up a ruckus by knocking on every door until he found Aurora's, Sans had simply took a shortcut onto her balcony and let himself in with magic; pushing the sliding door shut behind him, but leaving the curtains open. He knew it was rude, but really couldn't bring himself to care as he snooped around the thread-barren bedroom for anything that would tell him more about their "friend". 

 

He recalled that there were hardly any personal belongings and a plethora of medical equipment that he couldn't even begin to name. It was odd to the sheer amount though, having only seen many of the things the one time Frisk had gone to a hospital for a broken arm. ( _ouch_.)

 

The only thing that had actually caught his eye before he heard his brother's voice in the living room was a photograph on the dresser. Two men were on either side of a young woman, their arms draped over her shoulders as they posed for the picture, their grins wide and glowing. 

 

One man was obviously much older than the other two, as told by the salt and pepper color of his hair and beard, along with the laugh lines around his gray eyes. He was dressed in a paramedic's uniform, while the other man in the picture was much younger and dressed in a pair of cyan scrubs that were decorated with cat faces. His tawny blond hair matched perfectly with his bright blue eyes as he winked cheerily for the camera while forming a peace sign with his fingers.

 

Sans almost didn't recognize the woman as Aurora, but when it dawned on him that it was her, his jaw dropped.

 

Her cheeks were plump and full of color in the picture, as she smiled happily in a way that made her hazel eyes sparkle with life. Her auburn hair was much thicker than it was now and it framed her face in gentle waves in vibrant color. Everything about her screamed "I'm in perfect health!" and it baffled him that she was now half the size she appeared to be in the photo. One final detail caught his attention before he heard Papyrus exclaim that he was removing his shoes, cutting his snooping short, and that was the book held in front of her chest.

 

The same book that his brother was absently thumbing through as the returned to their apartment, gifted to him by the author herself.

 

"SANS, DO YOU THINK THE HUMAN'S MOTHER IS NOT FOND OF MONSTERS?"

 

The question was sudden, but not completely unexpected. "it looked that way, bro."

 

Papyrus clicked his teeth and hummed in thought. "I HOPE THE HUMAN WILL NOT GET IN TROUBLE BECAUSE OF US."

 

Oh, Sans could definitely tell she was going to. "nah, the lady was mad at us, not the kid. she'll be just fine." _i hope_ , he added as an afterthought.

 

"RIGHT... YES! I'M SURE YOU'RE RIGHT, BROTHER." He could tell Papyrus didn't fully believe it, but there was little they could actually do about it. "WELL, HER ELDERLY NEIGHBOR SEEMED QUITE FRIENDLY, AT LEAST!"

 

"heh. yeah, he sure seemed like a _bone_ fied pal."

 

"SANS. NO." Papyrus unlocked their apartment, opening the door to let Sans inside while handing him the book. "AS MUCH AS I WOULD _LOVE_  TO SUFFER THROUGH YOUR PUNS, I MUST HEAD TO THE ACADEMY: WE'RE LEARNING HOW TO DETAIN INDIVIDUALS!"

 

"don't be too _cuff_  on 'em, bro."

 

"THAT WAS BAD."

 

"you're smiling."

 

The taller skeleton stomped his foot and turned away with a huff. "I AM AND I HATE IT!" 

 

Sans shuffled indoors, tossing a lazy wave over his shoulder. "have fun, bro."

 

"I WILL! PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO FEED YOUR PET ROCK WHILE I AM GONE!"

 

With that, the door was shut and Sans was left alone with the "author's photograph" of Aurora staring at him, the haunting black and white image of her smile making his magic churn again. Unable to bear looking at the innocent picture, he opened the novel to the back, glancing over the sleeve that read off random information about the author.

 

_Aurora May Dunn wrote her first short story in the third grade and has been an avid writer ever since. She became a beloved writer through the critically acclaimed international bestseller_  "The Firefly Lamp", _and its sequel;_ "The Lost Light". _Currently attending the University of Iowa to become a teacher, she has plans for many more books and lives with her family in Iowa City._

 

Furrowing his brow, he flipped to the check printing date and found that it was printed six years ago. "huh. a lot has changed since then, i guess."

 

At that moment, his phone chimed and he lazily dug it out of his pocket, casting the screen a glance.

 

**From: AuroraBorealis.**

**I just want to apologize for the behavior of myself and my mother.**

**She shouldn't have said those things to you and I'm grossly**

**embarrassed by it. And I shouldn't have ignored you guys. It was**

**rude and you've both been nothing but nice to me. I'm really, really**

**sorry.**

 

**From: AuroraBorealis.**

**I hope that we can try again sometime?**

 

**From: AuroraBorealis.**

**If not, I totally understand. I've been a dick**

**and my mom was a complete jerk to you**

**and your brother.**

 

Not expecting the apology, but appreciating it all the same, he couldn't help but feel like he was the one that wronged _her_  and it left a bad taste in his mouth. He was about to respond to Aurora to tell her that "it was no skin off his bones" when a new message popped up on his screen.

 

**From: AuroraBorealis.**

**You leave my daughter alone you freak.**

 

He immediately frowned: it was clear that the phone had been swiped from its owner. He set the book in his hand down on the kitchen counter, a sudden urge rising in him: if he had learned anything from Frisk and being on the Surface, it was how to be persistent. Sure, he didn't know Aurora _well_ , but it wasn't hard to see that she was a good person that was just stuck in a rut that brought her down to being the socially awkward weirdo that screamed at new faces. His brother sure seemed set on being friends with her as well and that was all Sans really needed to be assured that she was a decent kid: Papyrus had always been a better judge of character than him.

 

Remembering the hack's words left a burning feeling in his eye and his phalanges twitched in anticipation; that _human_  had outright insulted his brother right in front of him, and was now trying to interfere with a harmless friendship? _heh._  Not if he had anything to say about it: nobody got between pun buddies.

 

If that she-hag of a mother wanted to play nasty and try to control who Aurora could talk to, then he was going to play hard ball too. 

 

Aggressively tapping the screen, he headed towards the balcony to return to his sunbathing.

 

* * *

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**doughn't be like that**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**i could say something mean, but im a-bavette**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**no need to be so mein tho**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**keep that up and ur askin pho trouble**

 

Lacy growled angrily, tossing the battered phone onto the bed, where Aurora quickly scooped it up and checked the messages to see what angered her further. Her mother paced the floor, her hands shoved into her scrubs' pockets and muttered angrily under her breath about how "nasty" monsters were. Aurora, on the other hand, fought to keep her face from twisting with the valiant effort it took to keep from bursting into a fit of much-needed laughter and she smartly hid it behind a cough.

 

Ever since the brothers left the apartment, her mother had zeroed in on her, yelling nonstop about the monsters that had been allowed into their home. From the fact they wielded magic to conspiracy theories that they were going to start a war to get back at humanity, everything under the sun that could be "negative" about monsters was thrown at her. She had tried to argue that they had been nothing but kind and patient with her, but her soft voice was overpowered by her mother's shouts.

 

It made her feel like a child and she _hated_  it.

 

Aurora wished she had a powerful voice like Papyrus, or even the cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor that Sans emitted. Heck, she would even like to be as strong and brash as Undyne; _anything_  that would help her stand up to her mother's berating shouts. If she could, she would straighten her back and just walk out like her brother had done years ago, but _she_  couldn't. Not without her poor health rearing its head and crippling her before she left the building.

 

Her hands tightened around the phone as Lacy began to yell again. "I just- how could you let those _abominations_  into our home!?"

 

"They're not abominations... They're people like you and me..." she responded, unable to make her voice much louder than a squeak. "They are _nice_  to me-"

 

"Those freaks of nature are nothing more than trouble, Aurora! Can't you see that I'm trying to help you!?" Her mother whirled around, her blue eyes near-feral as she narrowed them. "Can't you see that everything I do is to help _you_!? I left behind a good home: a wonderful job just so we could move _here_!"

 

This made the smaller woman flinch violently, her anger diminished. "I-"

 

"I uprooted my life so we could move somewhere better for _you_!" Lacy seethed, drawing closer until she stooped over her. "The least you could do is _stay out of trouble_!"

 

White hot tears prickled at her eyes and her throat constricted, preventing her from saying anything. Nausea bit at the back of her throat and her lungs couldn't seem to get enough air, leaving her gasping to breath as the treacherous guilt hit her like a bag of bricks. It was true that _she_  was the reason the left their home in Iowa and moved to Colorado: if she wasn't so _sickly_ , none of this would be a problem! They wouldn't live in a nearly empty apartment, her mother would still have her high paying job at the hospital, Aurora would still be attending college, her brother-

 

"Aw sweetie," Lacy cooed, bringing her arms around the sobbing woman in a comforting embrace. "You know I didn't mean it... I was just mad, is all."

 

Just like that, a switch was flipped and the kind, caring woman that raised her was back. She ran her fingers along Aurora's scalp to comfort her, hugging and rocking her for a few moments before urging the crying woman up into her bed. The nurse fussed over her, fluffing her pillows and smoothing out the blankets, then leaving the room to prepare some tea and her midday medication. When she returned minutes later, she attempted to take the phone away from Aurora to set aside, but in a burst of stubbornness, the thin hand held fast and a look of annoyance flashed across Lacy's face.

 

It was gone a moment later. "Sweetie, I need you to take your medicine now. I have to go back to work since I was only coming home for lunch." Another stab of guilt. "Take it before I go and I'll get this tray out of your way."

 

Obediently, Aurora picked up the small cup of pills, taking them with the amber colored tea and she immediately choked when the unexpectedly bitter flavor flooded her mouth as she swallowed. Coughing harshly, the mug jostled free from her loose grip, dumping out all over her front and legs, scalding her in the process. Lacy lurched away to avoid the liquid, but was quick to rip the soaked covers off the bed, followed by ripping the oversized shirt off her daughter, leaving her practically nude except for her underwear: she had forgone the bra that day.

 

"Go wash up: quick!" Her mother hissed, pushing Aurora off the bed and completely stripping it of its covers. "And get out of that underwear: I'll bring you fresh ones."

 

Confused, Aurora hurried to the bathroom, peeling off her clothes once inside and snagging a washcloth from the towel closet. She dampened it beneath the faucet, then scrubbed down her reddening skin as gently as possible to avoid irritating it further. Her mother appeared next to her, arms laden with a clean set of clothes that she dropped onto the counter and she took the washcloth when Aurora was done, picking up the underwear with it to add them to the new pile of laundry.

 

"I'll throw them in the wash later." Lacy's tone was clipped as gathered the pile and took it from the room. "I need to get to work."

 

Aurora nodded mutely, tugging the clean shirt over her head and winced when the front door slammed shut yet again. Moments later, her phone - which had been forgotten on the bed, chimed with a message. Shaking from the emotional roller coaster she had been subjected to, she rubbed her wrist against her eyes and opened the phone.

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**u might want 2 close ur curtains next time**

 

Blanching, she slowly turned her head to look out the window, she made eye contact with Sans, who meekly waved and appeared to be as blue in the face as she was red. She dove for the curtains and drew them shut, letting out a hysterical giggle: what _else_  could go wrong? She sprawled out onto the ground beside the door, mortification surging through her veins with a vengeance while her phone chirped happily.

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**sorry bout that**

 

**From: Comic Sans.**

**r u ok tho? hope we didn't get u into 2 much trouble**

 

Tears pooled over her eyes again and she pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes in an attempt to stave off the gross sobs that made it all the harder for her to breathe.

 

Again, the phone lit up with a notification.

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**I AM SORRY IF WE GOT YOU INTO**

**TROUBLE WITH YOUR MOTHER!**

 

**From: Master Chef.**

**SHE DID NOT SEEM TO CARE MUCH FOR MONSTERS.**

 

That was an understatement: her mother literally called them disgusting creatures and demanded they never come back. Why were they even bothering with talking to her? If it were her, she would have found herself to be too much trouble to keep talking to: who would want to deal with some human's emotional baggage and racist mother? _She_  didn't want to deal with it! 

 

How could they be so _nice_  to her!?

 

Scrubbing her eyes roughly, Aurora sat up and stared at the phone when it went off again, this time from an unknown number. There were multiple messages that had been left unread, but she recognized it from several days before: the image of a blue spear stuck in the wall above a mess of a kitchen will forever plague her curiosity. She wasn't sure why they were constantly sending her a steady stream of messages, but she had originally resolved herself to ignore them as she was certain they had the wrong number. Now that she was at her all-time emotional low, she opened the darned thing to see just _what_  that person wanted to spam her multiple times a day.

 

The first message was akin to a bucket of ice cold water being dumped on her.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Hey. It's Undyne. Paps chewed me out.**

**So now I have to say sorry.**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**FORGET IT!!**

**WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO APOLOGIZE!?**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**YOU were the coward that ran off**

**without confronting me!! If it bothered**

**your puny feelings so much, you**

**would have FOUGHT BACK!!**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Why should I say sorry!?**

 

A fresh wave of tears streamed down Aurora's face and her grip around the old phone tightened until her knuckles turned white. It was Undyne... And she was _right_! She was a coward for just running away rather than trying to stand up for herself, but what else could she have done? She was just so weak and her voice was so feeble: who in their right mind would bother listening to _her_? So what if she couldn't take the pressure? Any _normal_  person probably could have!

 

Why _should_  Undyne be sorry? She was curious and spoke her mind with brutal honesty: it was _Aurora's_  fault that she couldn't handle it!

 

Sniffling grossly, she continued reading.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Ugh. I can already see your scrawny**

**face now. Probably crying a freaking**

**river by this point.**

 

Well, she hit the nail on the head with that one.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Look. It's whatever, right?**

**We're BOTH stupid.**

 

That made her do a double take, squinting at the text incredulously as though the words would rearrange themselves into something else. Undyne, the terrifying fish-lady monster said _what?_  No way. She quickly moved to the next message to try to decipher the sudden about-face in the text, her tears slowing to a stop as the enigma presented itself.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**You're a big freaking weenie.**

**I'm a massive jerk.**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**You're Papyrus' friend and**

**I said some pretty... UGH.**

**MEAN things.**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**ALRIGHT!? I SAID it!!**

**I was a JERK! But you're still**

**a scrawny little coward!!!**

 

_Is that a backhanded apology...?_  Aurora was completely baffled just imagining Undyne typing it all in and scrolled back to the top to reread it to make sure she was reading it all correctly. When it all read the same and she confirmed that no, she didn't pass out and was having a fever dream or something, she leaned back against the wall while releasing an unsteady breath. At this point, she was more confused than upset and she frowned, moving on to the next message.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**HA!! Frisk says I'm too**

**chicken to be your "friend".**

**ME!!! Too CHICKEN!?!**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**But you know what?**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**I'm gonna HELP you!**

**Even though you're a little**

**PUNK coward!!**

 

_What?_

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**GOT IT!? We're not going**

**to be "friends".**

 

Considering how Undyne scares the living daylights out of her, Aurora couldn't find it in herself to be too upset about that.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**No. We're going to be...**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**BESTIES.**

 

_What._

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Just you wait. I'm going to**

**FIND you. And when I do,**

**we're gonna have FUN**

**and do BEST FRIEND**

**STUFF!!!!!!**

 

That sent a shiver of terror up and down her spine. Undyne wanted to be _best friends_!? A-and she was _looking_  for her?! Now that Papyrus knew where she lived, she was half tempted to beg her mother to up and move them all over again because Undyne didn't seem like the kind of person that would give up easily. If she was rough and crass with Aurora upon first meeting her, how would she treat her _best friend_? Some people got rougher with people they knew well and judging from how the soda bottle exploded when Undyne chucked it at the picnic, she could tell that she was freakishly strong.

 

Aurora couldn't help but be scared of her; what if she hurt her? Because of her illness, her skin bruised easily, her bones could easily break and if cut, she would continuously bleed. She just wasn't _healthy enough_  to deal with someone like _Undyne_.

 

Then there was the issue with her mother absolutely hating monsters... How could she be friends with someone that her own mother hated? The strain it would put on all parties involved would just be added stress that nobody needed or wanted. Maybe it would be possibly if she knew _why_  her mother hated them; was it a twisted form of racism, or an innate fear? Did something happen to Lacy when monsters came to the Surface? Was there something Aurora didn't know that pushed her to despise the race?

 

Was she so absorbed in her own self-pity that she didn't notice that something had happened to her mother?

 

Sniffling once more when the self-depreciating thoughts returned, she looked at the final messages.

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**I know it's a lot to take in,**

**being the bestie of someone**

**as totally freaking rad as I am.**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**So. I'll give you a week before I,**

**Undyne, WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!!!**

 

**From: Unknown Number.**

**Get ready to bond, PUNK!!!!!**

 

"Oh God." Aurora moaned in dread, covering her face with her hands despite the fact her phone was still clutched tightly in her grasp. "This can't get any worse..."

 

That was when she heard the faint sound of her phone ringing.

 

What little color there was drained from her face and she jerked her hands away to stare at the cellphone as the screen was illuminated by a _Undyne's number_  and a telephone icon, signaling that she had accidentally pressed the button to call her. In a panic, she threw the phone away from her with a cry of surprise and her gaze morphed into one of abject horror when she hear a rough, yet feminine voice pick up the line almost immediately.

 

" _NGAHAHAH!! I knew you'd call eventually!!_ " Undyne had to be shouting for Aurora to hear her while being several feet away from the phone. " _You ready to make plans with your_ best friend _!?_ "

 

Aurora's lips puckered as though she sucked on an incredibly sour lemon in an attempt to remain absolutely silent.

 

" _HEY! Are you there?_ " There was a series of loud banging noises and a variety of voices let out colorful curses. Undyne shouted at them. " _Oh stop whining you WEENIES! I want to see you all run twenty- NO! FIFTY laps!_ " There was a pause, followed by an enraged(?) shout from the monster. "NOW _you punks!_ "

 

Aurora felt sympathy for whoever it was that she was yelling at, but she used the distraction as a chance to silently crawl over to the phone and hang up. Her whole body was shaking from the sudden influx of stress the brief, accidental call brought and she found that her throat was unspeakably dry. Using this as motivation, she finally wiped the last of her drying tears from her cheeks and stood up on wobbly legs, leaving the phone abandoned on the floor.

 

She made it two steps away before her phone started to ring, blaring out all-too cheerful chimes that failed to match the feeling of her heart jumping into her throat. Pivoting on her heel, she eyed the offending device with wary eyes and she just _knew_  exactly who that was. She pondered what she should do, weighing her options briefly, only to sigh and stoop over to pick it up and answer it all in one movement. If she hurried up and told Undyne that the whole thing was a bad idea, then surely she'd leave her alone, right?

 

" _Hey PUNK! Why'd you hang up on me!?_ " Aurora quickly held the phone away from her ear to avoid damage to her eardrum. " _Aw, forget it. What are you doing on Saturday_ , Bestie?"

 

The question was so sudden that she failed to answer.

 

" _I'll take that as a whole lot of NOTHING! Good._ " 

 

"I-I... U-um..."

 

" _What? Got plans? Tch. Whatever, we'll work it out._ " Undyne's voice was full of confidence that she wished she had. " _Anyways, was there a reason you called?_ "

 

"I-I didn't m-mean to..." She fumbled over her words nervously, preparing herself internally to be yelled at again today. "I-I don't think t-this is a good idea..."

 

There was an awkward pause. " _What's not a good idea?_ "

 

"I-I c-can't..." Her throat felt more dry than a desert and her stomach churned uncomfortably. "I-I..."

 

" _Spit it out, WEENIE!_ " Undyne hollered into the receiver, making Aurora jump.

 

"I can't be friends with you!" she rasped out in one breath, cringing and waiting for the shouting to start.

 

" _NGAHAHA! There you go! You're standing up for yourself already!_ " she cackled, unfazed by what she had said. " _Man, I am_ SUCH  _a good bestie!_ "

 

"What?" The scratchy feeling in her throat forced a cough out of her and she decided that she needed to go get a drink. "N-no, U-Undyne, we're- you... W-we're not..."

 

" _Listen up, PUNK! You're acting all "Unnnngh noooo I don't wanna be frieeeeends"._ " Undyne mocked her voice in an exaggerated falsetto that almost cracked a smile from Aurora from how silly it sounded. " _But guess what!? You ain't got a_ CHOICE _! NGAHAHA!_ "

 

Now in the kitchen, she pulled out a bottle of water and quickly took a sip. "W-what? Of course I-I have a choice! I-I _can't_  be friends w-with you!"

 

" _Can't can't can't! That's all I'm hearing from you!_ " She stopped to yell at whoever she was forcing to run laps. " _It's all "I can't be friends with you". Not "I don't want to be friends with you"._ "

 

Aurora opened her mouth to protest, only to shut it when she realized that Undyne was right.

 

" _That's what I thought. I don't know what the hell your deal is, Punk, but I'm going to get to the bottom of it even if it_ kills  _me!_ " Undyne let loose another bellowing laugh of triumph. " _HA! This'll show Papyrus- I am_ totally _the best at being friends with humans!_ "

 

"U-Undyne, please, I-I can't- don't _want_ to b-be your friend!" She felt like she was about to throw up.

 

" _Like I believe that!_ " the fish-Amazon shot back. " _Saturday! 11:30 sharp! Meet me at The Park or you'll be SORRY!_ "

 

"W-wait, I _can't!_ " Aurora cried, her eyes widening as she realized what was about to happen.

 

" _Yes you_ CAN _. I have to go; these punks won't whip themselves into shape! LATER._ "

 

With that, Undyne hung up on her, leave Aurora standing in her kitchen with a sense of apprehension because yes, it really could have gotten worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus actually told Undyne that she was just being mean to Aurora because she wasn't as good as him when it came to being friends with humans. Reverse psychology is quite effective on her! 
> 
> Like what I do~? [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Got a question? Holla at my Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden
> 
> Until next Sunday, dearies~! Ta~


	7. Play-Date With Undyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joining a fish for lunch. (#friendsnotfood)

When Saturday rolled around, Aurora was nothing but a jittery bundle of frayed nerves.

 

The days leading up to the weekend, she was completely paranoid, half afraid that Undyne would come bursting through her apartment wall like the _Kool-Aid Man_. If that wasn't ridiculous enough, she would peek out her curtains to make sure the fish monster wasn't on her balcony or something equally impossible. It wasn't like she had heard much from her anyways: since the phone call, the only thing she got from her was a text on Friday to remind her to be at _The Park_  by 11:30.

 

The silence from her probably didn't help, as it allowed for her to think up all the things that could possibly go wrong.

 

It was also unhelp that she felt guilty for thinking that she couldn't be friends with Undyne because she was a monster: Sans and Papyrus were monsters as well, but she had tried to stick up for them! What kind of hypocrite was she to even try using that as an excuse? Especially since she was more than happy to text and shoot puns back and forth with Sans and to humor Papyrus' eccentric cooking ideas (she supposed there was no harm in making sushi spaghetti, if done properly?).

 

Not to mention, when she texted Sans about the messages and call from Undyne, he simply sent his condolences and said he would have Paps _try_  to dissuade her. It helped somewhat but even despite the taller skeleton's efforts, she still got that reminder, so she guessed it was a bust? Maybe she would tone it down _because_  Papyrus talked to her?

 

God she hoped so.

 

But... At the very least, she wanted to at least give Undyne a _chance_. It was only fair, since she did the same for the skeleton brothers... Right?

 

Though, she had considered just not going, but she had enough self-preservation to know that probably would have been the worst thing to do. So, she resigned herself to her piteous fate and started getting ready to go the moment Lacy left the apartment at 10 a.m. Luckily, she felt better so she didn't need the oxygen concentrator or infusion pump, allowing her to forgo the large backpack this time around.

 

Instead, she dug out a purse from the depths of her closet, along with a pair of jeans and a simple, lavender colored blouse. She wasn't sure what Undyne had planned, so she hoped that she wasn't over-or-under-dressing for the situation - and she desperately prayed it would be a _pleasant_  situation.

 

Reluctantly, she made sure the curtains were drawn shut ( _Thanks a lot, Sans._ ) and abandoned her pajamas to get dressed. Fortunately, it didn't take her long to get ready as all she really needed to do was wash up and get dressed, leaving her with ample time to pack a small sketchbook into her purse and grab a bottle of water. She may as well try to get some sketching in to help soothe her nerves about the whole ordeal before she had to actually meet up with her, right?

 

Nodding to herself as she checked her bag to be sure she had everything, Aurora donned a mask and head out the door, locking it carefully behind her. With that done, she quickly left the apartment building, awkwardly looking around in case her mother jumped out of nowhere before hurrying down the sidewalk. There were a few people out and about, moreso than usual, but she paid it no mind as she dodged them and made her way towards _The Park_.

 

When she came around the corner, she looked up from her feet and blinked in surprise when she saw Sans was already in his usual spot, but this time he was manning a cart different than his normal hot dog stand. The closer she got, she could see that he was passing out what looked to be ice cream packages to his customers instead of his hot dogs. She wondered vaguely how many different carts he owned, but shrugged it off as she slid into her usual spot at the nearby picnic table, glad that it was vacant.

 

As she sat down, Aurora caught Sans' gaze and waved at him, though he simply winked in return and continued working. Not that she minded, really, focusing more on digging out her sketchbook and flipping it open to a blank page to begin scribbling out a sketch. By the time she had hammered out a base sketch of a person, Sans' customers had cleared out, leaving him with a moment to shuffle over to her.

 

"nice to see you out in the sun." he joked, sitting on the bench across from her own. "feeling nervous, kid?"

 

She shot him a dry look. "Very. She's probably going to break me in half."

 

He chuckled, picking at a stray string on his trademark blue hoodie. "she won't. paps would get mad at her." When she didn't look appeased by his comment, he added, "look, you have my number. if for any reason you don't feel _safe_  with undyne, you can call me or papyrus. alright?"

 

Aurora felt touched he would even offer and nodded slowly. "T-thanks... I... Guess it's pretty lame I'm scared of her, huh?"

 

"nah. she looks pretty _krill_ er."

 

"You used that one already. There's plenty of other puns in the sea."

 

"ah, you got me. didn't think you'd remember that one."

 

She snorted, but chose not to comment further as she continued her absent-minded sketching. "So, you sell ice cream too?"

 

He leaned his elbow on the table, craning his neck to see what she was drawing. "mhm."

 

"W-well, that's... Nice?"

 

Sans chortled. "nice cream." Aurora shot him a strange look, one which he shot back. "you've never had nice cream?" She shook her head. "wow. i'm doing you a huge favor then. would you prefer cherry or blue raspberry?"

 

"O-oh... Um..."

 

Before she could answer, there was a mighty holler that made them both jump and whip their heads to the  side just in time to see Undyne sprinting across the streets as cars were passing. Aurora cried out in shock, half jumping to her feet and reaching her hands out as though she could grab her while Sans simply rolled his eyes, getting up to return to his cart. Undyne, on the other hand, hurtled over the car that was about to hit her with an uncanny ease and landed on the sidewalk with the grace of a seasoned dancer.

 

She straightened up and pointed at Sans dramatically. "HEY! Just what do you think you're doing!?"

 

Sans sprayed down the top of his cart with a bottle of cleaner, casting her an unamused look. "talking to a buddy."

 

She bared her teeth at him and stalked closer. "That's _MY_  bestie you're offering Nice Cream to, CREEP! I had plans you know!"

 

Again, Sans rolled his eyes. "yeah sure."

 

Satisfied that he wasn't attempting to "steal her friend", Undyne turned to face Aurora, who was currently digging her inhaler out of her purse and using it. "Heya PUNK. Didn't think you'd come."

 

Swallowing down a gulp of medicated air, Aurora slapped the inhaler down on the picnic table. "Are you _CRAZY_!? You could have gotten hurt! O-or _killed_! God- even _kids_  know to look both ways before crossing the street!" Sucking in another lungful of air, she stepped away from the table and approached her. "Are you hurt? That was so _stupid_  of you!"

 

Both monsters looked at each other in surprise as Aurora grasped Undyne's jacket, spreading it open to check that she hadn't been hit before looking over her arms and legs. Her heart pounded in her chest from the second-hand adrenaline rush and her hands shook as she made sure she didn't have any injuries, and when she found nothing, she released a sigh of relief. It was then she noticed both monsters staring at her as though she grew a second head and her face burned hotly.

 

She moved to step away but Undyne snapped her arm out, wrapping it around her shoulders and hauling her in for a rough noogie. "NGAHAHA!! I _knew_  you were a weenie, but I didn't think you were that big of a _SOFTIE_!" 

 

Squeaking in surprise, Aurora wriggled futilely in her grasp before Undyne finally released her. "O-of _course_  I'm g-going to worry when someone r-runs across the s-street like an idiot!"

 

The Amazonian fish simply cackled in response. "As IF some stupid car can take _ME_  out!"

 

Aurora huffed, fixing her hair as best she could, muttering, "Well _excuse me_."

 

She reminded herself that she was here to give Undyne a chance.

 

"looks like someone has spark. better watch out, _bass_." Sans remarked with a sidelong grin.

 

"HELL YEAH!" Undyne stomped, startling Aurora again. "I was beginning to think you didn't have any in you!"

 

"Um..?" 

 

"Oh, who cares!? C'mon, _BESTIE_! We've got places to GO!"

 

Barely allowing her time to grab her belongings, Undyne snatched Aurora's wrist and began to drag her down the sidewalk, making a beeline for the _Downtown District_. That particular area was nestled between the larger buildings and the mountain itself, having become a popular place for shops to set up  because the scenery drew in tourists and locals wanting to relax. From restaurants to bakeries to handcrafted goods, there was a little bit of everything to appease people of all sorts.

 

Except Lacy, it seemed. Aurora recalled her mother had gone there to investigate and came back disgruntled when she saw how many monsters owned businesses. Undyne wasn't giving any hints as to where they were going though, and having never been to the area herself, Aurora was more than happy to  allow herself to be pulled along so that she could observe her surroundings. 

 

There were a couple times where she had to ask Undyne to slow down so that she could catch her breath, and while she seemed mildly irritated at the slow pace, she humored her each time. Aurora was grateful for this, as she had fully expected Undyne to be impatient with her and to keep dragging her along until she was a wheezing mess. Because of the occasional pause in pace, it took them about fifteen minutes to even make it into the _Downtown District_  and the closer they got to a particular building, the bigger Undyne's grin became.

 

"You're going to LOVE this place. _Trust me._ " She promised and she was practically vibrating with excitement.

 

Suddenly, Undyne jerked to a stop in from of a small restaurant called " _Bonnie's Kitchen_ " and Aurora narrowly avoided colliding into her back. Grinning over her shoulder at the much smaller human, Undyne pushed open the door and pulled her inside, revealing it to have a warm and inviting interior. It was decorated simply, with warm grays and browns being the color scheme that was intended to remind one of "home", while kitchen themed decorations were scattered everywhere to tastefully bring the theme all together.

 

A pale pink bunny-like monster waved at Undyne, who called out a greeting in return and tugged Aurora into a nearby booth. "Hope you're hungry, this place has some of the _best_  food around!"

 

Briefly, she panicked internally because she would have to pester the wait staff about what goes in there food.

 

"Hey, don't look so scared!" Undyne thumped a fist on the table, making the salt and pepper shakers rattle noisily. "I did research!"

 

This made Aurora furrow her brow. "I'm sorry?"

 

She waved her hand around. "You can't have freaking red sauce because of tomatoes, right?" Aurora nodded. "Well, since you're such a weenie, I figured you can't have other foods too! Right?"

 

Blinking in surprise, she nodded slowly. "Y-yes... That's right."

 

" _HA_! I knew it!" Undyne whooped, drawing odd looks from the other patrons. "So this place is actually used to people having special diets! Not all monsters are alike, you know? And _humans_  seem to dig the whole "dietary restriction friendly" thing!"

 

Digging her phone out of her pocket, she smacked it onto the table and opened up her browser to reveal a page full of reviews about the restaurant. Peering closer, she noticed that it had outstanding reviews, the highlights saying that the staff and chef was very accommodating for food allergies and specific diets. It dawned on her how much effort that Undyne had actually put into this and instantly, she felt a nauseating guilt crash over her like a wave and she practically shrank away from the phone.

 

"T-thank you... For doing that..." She murmured shyly, avoiding eye contact as they waited for the waitress with the menus to arrive.

 

It was as if someone was shining a new light on the boisterous monster, and Aurora had to admit to herself that maybe she was being too harsh in her judgment. Sure, Undyne had been a bit confronting in their initial meeting and sure, they definitely got off on the wrong foot. But she was making a visible effort to be friends with her and here Aurora had been trying to find a reason to not be friends just because she was a chicken. 

 

She was sickened by her own cowardice.

 

The pale pink bunny appeared beside their booth with menus, passing them to each of them. "Hiya Undyne! I see you brought a new friend!"

 

Aurora waved meekly, but Undyne reached over and noogied her. "Hell YEAH! This is my new _BESTIE_ , Aurora! She's a weenie and can't eat _decent food_!" 

 

Flailing her arms, she managed to knock Undyne's hand off her head and once again straightened out her hair. "I-it's nice to meet you."

 

The bunny clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'm Buns, it's nice to meet you too. I'll be your waitress for you today. Can I get you started with some drinks?"

 

"Water's good for me."

 

"W-water please?"

 

She nodded, smiling at them both. "Gotcha, I'll be back in a bit to take your orders. Let me know if you have questions!"

 

With that, she wandered off into the back to get their drinks and Aurora peeked down at the small, multi-paged menu. "U-um... Any suggestions...?"

 

Undyne reached over and flipped the menu to the second page, jabbing a finger on a section that read " _Tacos_ " followed by a small assortment of different kinds of tacos, from all vegetables to "ultra spicy beef". The latter of which she was tapping excitedly.

 

"This. Always this. I _LOVE_  it! And it melts your freaking face off!" she crowed, "You can have them switch the ingredients around if you gotta, and if you can't take the heat, then they have a couple that's not _as_  hot."

 

She peered at it thoughtfully and debated it. "How spicy is spicy, in your terms?"

 

"It makes me CRY! NGAHAHA!"

 

Aurora cringed while taking off her mask: if it made someone like Undyne cry, she didn't want to know what it would do to her. Instead, she read over the ingredients over one that was still "spicy" but not on the "melt your face off" tier. At the very bottom, she noticed an interesting disclaimer and found her brows lifting even higher when she read the whole thing.

 

_Food made by monsters is infused with magic, so please let a staff member know if you have sensitivities to magic._

 

"Undyne? What's this disclaimer at the bottom?" Aurora asked, pointing to the words. "Should I be concerned?"

 

The fish-lady glanced it over and snorted. "You ate Papyrus' food and was perfectly fine. If that didn't kill you, then Bonnie's food will be perfectly fine." This made her lone eye narrow and she leaned over the table. "Hey. Speaking of which... How did you _not_  throw up!? I love Paps to death but his cooking is AWFUL!"

 

Aurora found her lips quirking upward. "Because I'm a " _weenie_ ", my taste buds aren't that great. So I didn't get the full assault, but I still got a good hankering on how bad it could be."

 

Undyne guffawed and leaned back. "Aw hell, lucky. I got excited that he maybe made something good for once."

 

Buns came back with their waters and reached in her apron for a pad of paper to jot their orders down. Undyne energetically ordered the "Ultra-Spicy Beef" with a side of guacamole dip and milk while Aurora ordered the "Mildly-Spicy-Chicken" while asking for no tomatoes and asking her to be sure no pepper or tomato seeds would be in it. She felt bad for having to ask, but Buns simply grinned and said she'd pass the word along to the chef and disappeared into the back once more after taking their menus.

 

  "SO! Bestie." Aurora turned her head back towards Undyne, who was reclined back in her seat with an arm tossed over the back. "Let's get to know each other."

 

That sharp gleam in her eye did not bode well. "O-okay...?"

 

"I'll ask a question and then you'll ask a question." With that said, she launched into her question before confirming that Aurora was down for this. "Do you hate monsters?"

 

The abrupt question startled her. "What? No!" 

 

Undyne held her hands up peacefully. "Just checking! Some people totally hate us, so I figured it didn't hurt to ask. Your turn."

 

Blushing darkly, Aurora took a moment to think of a question while sipping on her water. "Where do you work?"

 

Puffing out her chest proudly, she thumped a fist over her heart. "I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard! Pretty cool, right?"

 

Aurora promptly choked on her water, sputtering incredulously as she pointed a shaky finger at her. "Y-you! B-but-?! _I threw my wallet at you_!" 

 

"Yeah, it was great!" Buns stopped by their booth to give Undyne her guacamole and chips before moving on to the next table. "ANYWAYS! Where do _you_  work?"

 

Flustered by the fact that she was sitting across from the _Captain of the Royal Guard for the Monster Royalty_ , she fumbled over her words more so than usual. "I-I-I w-write b-books..."

 

Suddenly, Undyne's gaze got a thousand times more intense and she rocked forward, slamming both fists onto the table. Aurora jumped and caught their water glasses before they fell over, but Undyne didn't seem to notice as she leaned in further. The sickly human shrank back awkwardly, unsure of what was going on until the monster grinned wickedly.

 

"That's right. You gave a book to _Papyrus_."

 

Confused, she simply nodded. "Y-yes...?"

 

"Do you... Write _manga_?" 

 

The question was whispered in a low, serious tone and had it been anybody else, Aurora would have burst into laughter. In this case, it was Undyne and Aurora wasn't stupid enough to laugh at this apparently important question, so she gulped thickly and answered.

 

"N-no... B-but I can draw you S-Sailor Moon if you want...?"

 

" _HELL YES I WANT IT!_ " Undyne shouted, only to be shushed by almost everybody else in the restaurant while Aurora turned twenty different shades of red as she apologized profusely. "Can you draw Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!? Alphys would be so _stoked_!"

 

"A-Alphys?"

 

"My girlfriend!" Lunging for her phone, Undyne was quick to pull up a picture of a short, yellow lizard (or was she a dinosaur?) monster in a lab coat and glasses waving meekly at the camera. "She's totally cute, right!?"

 

"Y-yes?"

 

Luckily, Aurora was saved from expanding further on that when Buns came with their meals, setting the plates in front of their proper owners and leaving to get Undyne's milk. Just glancing at the food, it looked absolutely delicious, with her two crunchy shelled tacos cutely arranged with a small seedless-fruit salad on one side and a dish of tomato-free salsa on the other. Undyne was already preparing napkins and her silverware to begin digging in, so she began to do the same by folding a napkin to place in her lap.

 

"And here's your milk; enjoy!" Buns cheerfully placed the glass of milk beside her and left them to dig in.

 

Grinning, Undyne picked up on of her four tacos and in one large bite, she practically inhaled half of the first one. Aurora followed her lead, but took a far smaller nibble of her own and chewed it carefully while watching her companion scarf down the rest of her taco. Almost instantaneously, sweat began beading across her forehead, but she swiped a clawed hand across it and dove in for the second.

 

Aurora, on the other hand, could barely taste the spice, thankfully, but otherwise found the food to be seasoned quite well in a delicious mixture of spices that made the already tender meat all the better. She was already impressed and made a note to check if they delivered for when she didn't feel like cooking for herself.

 

Halfway through her third taco was when Undyne began to break, her mouth opened partially and her breathing grew slightly heavy. "S-so! How is it, _Punk_?"

 

Aurora swallowed before answering. "It's r-really good! Thank you for bringing me here!"

 

She nodded and swiped for her milk, taking a large gulp of it. "Y-yeah! Sure, k-knew you'd like it!"

 

_It must be hotter than hell to make her stutter_. Aurora took a sip of her drink and finished half of her first taco, then picked at her fruit salad. "Do you come here often?"

 

"Yeah! It's o-one of the only places Paps'll actually eat at, y'know? He d-doesn't like greasy food, and they make him spaghetti here."

 

Aurora went to answer, but her phone ringing cut her off. Apologizing for the interruption, she nervously checked to see who was calling, half afraid it was her mother and utterly relieved when she saw it was Papyrus. She looked at her companion, biting her lip before finally opening the old flip-phone to answer it.

 

"Hello?"

 

" _HUMAN! I AM CALLING TO SEE HOW YOUR PLAY-DATE WITH UNDYNE IS GOING!_ " The jovial skeleton announced upon her greeting. " _AND TO ASK IF YOU IF SHE WAS BEING A GOOD HOST!_ "

 

Undyne rolled her eyes and held her hand out for the phone, having heard him loud and clear and Aurora passed her the phone. "HEY! I'm being a _damn good_ play-date host!"

 

Couldn't they use a better name for this? The other patrons were once again staring at them and Aurora sank in her booth to hide from them, but Undyne seemed undisturbed. She didn't seem like the type to be bothered by others anyways, so she couldn't say that she was surprised when she carried on like nothing was wrong. Aurora tried ignoring them and slowly picked on her food despite already feeling full.

 

" _WELL I WAS JUST CHECKING! THE HUMAN IS FRAGILE OF COURSE! AND YOU CAN BE... UM... ROUGH?_ " Papyrus offered.

 

"HA! I wouldn't hurt my bestie! She's having the time of her life!" The phone was thrust in her face. "Tell him!"

 

"U-um... I'm having t-the time of my life?"

 

In a flash, the phone was pressed against Undyne's ear/fin? The brunette was having a hard time wrapping her head around the anatomy of monsters. " _See_!? I told you! Everything is perfectly _fine_!"

 

" _WELL IF YOU SAY SO. MAY I-_ "

 

"No time, Papyrus! We have soooo much planned for today!" Undyne exclaimed in a rush and hung up by snapping the phone shut, then cast it a frown. "Oh geez, you have an _antique_  for a phone! Alphys can totally build you a new one if you want."

 

Taking said device back and returning it to her pocket, Aurora shrugged. "O-oh, no, I wouldn't want to bother her."

 

"PSSH! She loves nerdy stuff like that! I'll ask her when she gets home tonight!" Cramming the rest of her taco in her mouth, Undyne washed it down with the rest of her milk. "You wanna take that with you?"

 

She looked down at her still-mostly-full plate and nodded. "Yes please."

 

"Hey Buns! Can we get a box and a sack?" Undyne hollered despite Aurora's attempts to hush her. "You wanna check out some of the shops? There's a few awesome ones nearby!"

 

Checking the time on her phone, she noted it was barely past noon, but calculated that her mother may be showing up in a couple hours to check on her. "Just a couple? I don't have the energy for lots of walking..."

 

"Oh. Right. Weenie." She paused as Buns left a box and the check on the table. "What's wrong with-"

 

Realizing what she was about to say, Undyne cut herself short and snatched up the check despite Aurora protesting that she could pay for her own. The monster grumbled and fished ( _ha!_ ) in her pocket for her wallet, leaving Aurora to awkwardly fiddle with her mask as she dropped the money on the table with a tip.

 

"I don't know what's wrong with me." She quietly said as she shifted her leftovers into the box, earning Undyne's sharp gaze. "I have a lot of symptoms and no official diagnoses. Just a lot of theories and guesses from doctors."

 

"Well, why don't they figure it out?! Isn't it bad for humans to be sick?" She hissed, though it wasn't directed at her.

 

"Well yes, but it's not good to jump to conclusions." Closing the box, they both began to shuffle out of the booth so that they could leave. "Treating something I may not have could making the original problem worse."

 

Undyne was still agitated for her. "Tch! Losers! Can't even do one thing right!" 

 

Waving farewell to Buns, Undyne opened the door to let them out and directed Aurora to the side so they could head to the first shop. "Give them time, I'm sure they're doing their best..."

 

"Puh. Whatever. They need to do BETTER!"

 

Aurora was touched that Undyne was irritated about it for her, but before she could dwell on the fact, Undyne tugged her into a small, quaint shop just a few buildings away from the restaurant. She missed the name of the building, but it appeared to be an antique store, judging from the musty smell and the variety of ancient looking trinkets scattered about. It was an odd place for someone like Undyne to be, but maybe she was just really into old stuff...?

 

The assumption was corrected almost immediately. 

 

"WAH-HA-HA! There's a scrappy brat I haven't seen in awhile! C'mon in, Undyne!" A scratchy timbre called out from the back of the shop, earning a wicked grin from her.

 

"Gerson, you old bat! Of course you're holed up in here!" she hooted loudly, practically sprinting towards the back, bumping into a table in the process.

 

Aurora quickly lurched forward to catch a vase that had begun to wobble precariously, carefully straightening it out before following Undyne at a much more subdued pace. Her eyes roved over a shelf of seemingly ancient books and a small display of what appeared to be good luck charms, ignoring the animated shouts from the back. She leaned in closer to read the worn titles of the books on the shelf when suddenly, the sound of a throat clearing made her jump and whirl around to see Undyne grinning widely from behind a olive, tortoise-like monster.

 

He was dressed like one would imagine an archaeologist might, in a khaki two-piece outfit and a rounded safari hat. While his right eye was squinted shut, his left was a dull yellow that stared her down unblinkingly and she instinctively shrunk back a bit and looked down at the ground.

 

"The name's Gerson, girlie." He greeted in a raspy drawl, shoving a clawed hand forward. "Undyne here says you're her new friend! It's good ta see a new face around here; and you're _human_! Wah-ha-ha!"

 

She nodded meekly and reached out to shake his hand. "I-I'm A-Aurora... It's nice to m-meet you."

 

"Well met!" He let out another booming laugh an yanked her closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders despite her yelp. "Now let me tell you about those books..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough week haha~ Hope you're all doing well~ 
> 
> I'm working on this and four other novels for NaNoWriMo, so if you're doing it, feel free to chat me up on the website! I'm CrabbyMaiden over there as well~
> 
> Like what I do~? [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/A0364H6B)  
> Got a question? Holla at my Twitter: @CrabbyMaiden
> 
> Until next Sunday, dearies~! Ta~


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